Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II listed building. Main construction periods 1833 to 1866 Windmill. Tarred brick. Tapering tower of 2 stages. Buttresses to lower stage, formerly supporting platform between stages. Iron cogging round top surmounted by wooden platform withboat-shaped cap clad with corrugated iron or asbestos (formerly weatherboarded). Sweeps and fantail missing. Small 4-centred arched 12-pane sashes to tower, with straight brick plat bond overeach. Ground-floor doorway to north. Built in 1851 by Holman Bros. for John Hogben by Hill, millwright of Ashford. The mill is depicted on a carving on an interior beam. It was once topped by a cap carrying four single-shuttered sweeps. These powered four pairs of stones plus two steel roller mills which were in constant use driven by wind until 1946. The cap has now been replaced by corrugated roofing. The iron windshaft is supported by the base timbers of the original cap which are still in position. The second floor timber staging, although rotting in places, still encircles the mill. On the third or stone floor, below the grain storage bins, are two of the three pairs of stones once at work at this level, the third has disappeard. It continued in use until 1969. A request to demolish the mill int the late 1970s was refused by the County Council.

Monument Types

• WINDMILL (Post Medieval to Modern - 1833 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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Description from record TR 13 NW 19 :
TR 12803784 Stanford tower mill. (1) TR 13 NW Stanford windmill, Kennett Lane (south side), Stanford. 3/99 29.12.66 Grade II. Windmill. Mid C19. Tarred brick. Tapering tower of 2 stages. Buttresses to lower stage, formerly supporting platform between stages. Iron cogging round top surmounted by wooden platform withboat-shaped cap clad with corrugated iron or asbestos (formerly weatherboarded). Sweeps and fantail missing. Small 4-centred arched 12-pane sashes to tower, with straight brick plat bond overeach. Ground-floor doorway to north. Interior not inspected. (2) Tarred-brick tower-mill, the sweeps missing. Built in the C19 by Holman Bros. (3) The mill stands in a small yard in private grounds in Kennett Lane, Stanford. It is a brick tower mill built in 1851 for John Hogben by Hill, millwright of Ashford. The mill is depicted on a carving on an interior beam. It was once topped by a cap carrying four single-shuttered sweeps. These powered four pairs of stones plus two steel roller mills which were in constant use driven by wind until 1946. The cap hasnow been replaced by corrugated roofing. The iron windshaft is supported by the base timbers of the original cap which are still in position. The second floor timber staging, although rotting in places, still encircles the mill. On the third or stone floor, below the grain storage bins, are two of the three pairs of stones once at work at this level, the third has disappeard. The mill was cracked during the First World War. It continued in useuntil 1969. A request to demolish the mill int the late 1970s was refused by the County Council. (4,5,6)

The following text is from the original listed building designation:

Summary of Building
Tower mill. Built in 1851 by millwright John Hill of Ashford. Alterations in late C20.
An adjoining brick wall and arch, a modern house to the east, and a relocated K6 telephone kiosk are
excluded from the listing.

Stanford Windmill, a brick tower mill built by the millwright John Hill in 1851 is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
* Degree of survival: the original mill machinery and fittings, although not complete, survive to a degree now rare in unrestored windmills;
* Architectural interest: for its unusual two-stage design and buttressing and the rare carved inscription on one of the beams commemorating its date and builder;
* Rarity: as the best-preserved example of only eight surviving tower mills in Kent, a county with a stronger tradition of timber smock mills.

History
The tower windmill at Stanford was built for John Hogben by the millwright John Hill of Ashford in 1851. Hill’s firm was one of the largest in the area and was responsible for building many windmills and watermills in Kent and Sussex. After a succession of millers during the C19, in 1913 Henry Taylor took possession. The mill suffered minor damage during the First World War when a bomb fell nearby. In 1927 a single-cylinder oil engine was fitted to power the stones when the wind was insufficient; this was replaced by a Rushton and Hornsby diesel engine in 1938. In 1946 the shutters were removed from the sweeps, the fan was removed and the mill was powered solely by the diesel engine. Having been bought by M Hancock and Son in 1959, in 1961 the sweeps and fanstage were entirely removed and the timber cap roof was replaced by corrugated asbestos-cement sheets. Milling continued using electric power until it ceased to operate in 1969. Subsequently the timber gallery was removed and some machinery sold to Draper’s Mill, Margate which was being restored at the time. In the 1990s the area surrounding the mill was developed for housing.

Details
Tower mill built in 1851 by the millwright, John Hill of Ashford.
MATERIALS: yellow and pale red stock brick laid in English bond. The upper level retains the tarred finish which has been removed from the base. PLAN: cylindrical base containing the first two floors and a tapering upper section surmounted by a timber-framed, boat-shaped cap. EXTERIOR: the lower part has eight, two-stage buttresses with sandstone capping which formerly supported the timber gallery (or stage) at second-floor level. The cap has corrugated asbestos-cement cladding and the
sweeps and fanstage have been removed. The fenestration is of small four-centred arched windows withsandstone stone sills and brick ’eyebrow’ drip mouldings. The openings contain cast-iron casements, those to the lower floors with twelve panes, the upper ones having nine. The ground floor entrance is to the north and has a shallow brick arch and a batten door. There were additional doors at first and second floor level. The first-floor door was for hoisting grain sacks and the opposed second-floor doors gave access to the gallery. The first-floor door survives, the two second-floor doors have been converted to windows with square-headed timber casements. INTERIOR: the mill has five floors. These include, from the top, the Dust floor, Bin floor, Stone floor and Spout floor. The floors are supported on heavy frames of Baltic pine, the Stone floor being reinforced with iron stanchions. One of the beams supporting the Stone floor bears the inscription ‘ BUILT BY/ JOHN
HOGBEN/ HILL MAY 1851 MILLWht’. Each floor has a sack hoist trapdoor set vertically above the ones
below. MACHINERY: although incomplete, significant surviving elements of the machinery remain. These include the curb (circular track on which the cap rotates); the brake wheel and wind shaft; wallower; upright shaft; great spur wheel and stone and machine nuts and shafts; tentering gear and grain/meal/dresser bins and chutes. Most of the machinery is of cast-iron. Two pairs of millstones remain, one of flinty quartz (French Burr) for flour and one of Millstone Grit (Derbyshire Peak) for animal feed. The enclosing timber tuns and hoppers have been lost. The windmill is adjoined by a brick wall and arch connecting it to a modern house to the east. A relocated K6 telephone kiosk is located at the foot of the windmill to the north-west. All these structures are excluded from
the listing.

Selected Sources
West, J, The Windmills of Kent, 1979, 73-75
Vincent Pargeter, The Tower Mill, Kennett Lane, Stanford, Kent - A Brief History, Technical Appreciation and
Recommendations for Repair, Millwright's Report, June 2001,
Vincent Pargeter, 46 Heybridge Road, Ingatestone, Essex, CM4
9AQ
The Mills Archive, Stanford Mill, Kent,
http://www.millsarchive.com/aspx/secured/ListItems.aspx?intMill
ID=2763&strTitle=, 29 January 2014 (7)

Historic England archive material (8)

<1> OS 1:2500 1971 (OS Card Reference). SKE48213.

<2> DOE(HHR) Dist of Shepway Kent 15 May 1986 (OS Card Reference). SKE41051.

<3> Bldgs of Eng NE & E Kent 1983 466 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE37776.

<4> The Windmills of Kent 1979 73-75 (J West) (OS Card Reference). SKE50551.

<5> Windmills in Kent 1979 23 (B J & J M Turpin) (OS Card Reference). SKE51345.

<6> Ind Arch of SE Eng 1978 56-57 (A J Haselfoot) (OS Card Reference). SKE44245.

<7> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

<8> Historic England, Archive material associated with Stanford Tower Mill, Listed Building (Archive). SKE54566.

Sources and further reading