Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

A smock mill built in 1778 for the processing of cereals. The mill continued to work with wind until the mill was damaged by a tail wind. The engines then took over full time milling until the late 1930's. The mill stood empty and derelict until it was pulled down in 1959. The remains of the Smock Mill exist.

Monument Types

• WINDMILL (WINDMILL, Post Medieval to Modern - 1778 AD to 1959 AD)

Full description

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TR 257608 A smock mill stood opposite Mill House, at the southern endof Preston village. During a gale in the First World War, this smock mill apparently became completely out of control - the resulting damage to the machinery making further wind-milling impossible. An inhabitant of the Mill House has stated that the smock was dismantled in 1959 and the brick base used solely for storage purposes. Mr. Pargeter states that the base is unusual in being octagonal outside but round insde. Parts of the decayed staging, mill stones, and the old mill cottage are among brambles nearby. (1) According to Coles Finch, William the mill was built in 1778. (2)

<1> Windmills of Kent 1979 102 (J West) (OS Card Reference). SKE51371.

<2> Coles Finch, W., 1933, Watermills and Windmills (Monograph). SKE32368.

<3> A A Bryan, 1998, Windmill gazetteer for England (Monograph). SKE55552.

<4> Finch W.C., 1933, Watermills & windmills: A historical survey of their rise, decline and fall as portrayed by those of Kent (Monograph). SKE16113.

<5> National Record of Industrial Monuments (NRIM): Index Cards (Index). SKE53912.

Sources and further reading