Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II listed building. Main construction periods 1800 to 1973 Drapers Mill was built in 1845 and was once one of a line of mills on the high ground at Margate. It was built by the Canterbury millwright John Holman as a Smock corn mill. It worked by wind until 1916 when a gas engine was installed. The sweeps were removed in 1927 along with the fantail when they were considered to be unsafe. After 1933 it became derelict. The mill is now in good condition and is fully functional. It was restored to working order between after it was bought by Kent County Council in 1968.

Images

Monument Types

• MILL (Post Medieval to Modern - 1800 AD to 2050 AD)
• WINDMILL (Post Medieval to Modern - 1845 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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The following text is from the original listed building designation:
ST PETER'S FOOTPATH 1. 1380 Draper's Windmill TR 3670 7/67
II GV
2. Probably early C19. Smock-type. Tarred weather-boarding on an octagonal tarred brick base. 2 sweeps and the fantail have been restored. Beehive cap. 2 sash windows with wooden frames on each side. 1 sash each side of doorway set in brick base. Simple wooden door with weatherhood on brackets. Modern lean-to at base.
Draper's Windmill forms a group with Mill House
Listing NGR: TR3622870010 (1)

Description from record TR 37 SE 47:
Draper's Windmill, St Peter's Footpath. Grade II. Probably early C19. Smock-type. Tarred weather-boarding on an octagonal tarred brick base.2 sweeps and the fantail have been restored. Behive cap. 2 sash windows with wooden frames on each side. 1 sash each side of doorway set in brick base. Simple wooden door with weatherhood on brackets. Modern lean-to at base. Draper's Windmill forms a group with Mill House. (1) TR 363 700 Draper's Mill, St Peter's Footpath, College Road. Smock mill dating to c 1815, the last surviving mill in Thanet. It has been fully restored and is open to the public, acting as an education centre. The mill was worked by wind until 1916 when a gas engine was installed. The sweeps were removed in 1927 along with the fantail whenthey were considered to be unsafe. After 1933 it became derelict. By 1965 its condition was so poor, the Draper's Mill Trust was formed to restore it. The fantail was fitted in 1970 and the first pair of sweeps in 1971. Finally in 1974 the second pair of sweeps were erected.

This smock mill is one of a group on the site of Draper's Mills. A mill on this mill's site was first seen on an 1801 Ordnance Survey map, but it is a different mill with the current mill being built in 1869, when a second mill was moved to the site. The mill ceased work with wind in 1916 with the sails and fans being removed in 1927. The mill then worked until circa 1940 with an oil engine, when it ceased to work entirely. (2-3)

Recorded by NRIM, photographed. (4)

Historic England archive material: BF002532 DRAPERS MILL, MARGATE File of material relating to a site or building. This material has not yet been fully catalogued. Copyright, date, and quantity information for this record may be incomplete or inaccurate.

<1> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

<2> A A Bryan, 1998, Windmill gazetteer for England (Monograph). SKE55552.

<3> Finch W.C., 1933, Watermills & windmills: A historical survey of their rise, decline and fall as portrayed by those of Kent (Monograph). SKE16113.

<4> National Record of Industrial Monuments (NRIM): Index Cards (Index). SKE53912.

Sources and further reading