For a day out with a difference, why not visit one of the UK's many windmills?
Once a common sight across Britain's landscape, these beautiful buildings are now under threat and often left to decay and crumble. Many charities are stepping in to try and save these iconic structures, and frequently host open days throughout the year when you can learn more about their fascinating history.
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While scenes of the windmill-dotted Norfolk Broads spring to mind, there are plenty of other places in the UK to see windmills that have been restored to their former glory. Take a look at our guide to the best windmills to visit, and even stay in.
How many windmills are there in the UK?
While there isn't a definite number of windmills in the UK, according to the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), hundreds of them open to the public each year for heritage days. At their peak, it's estimated that there were once 10,000 working windmills in England.
What are the best windmills to visit in the UK?
Bourn, Bourn, Cambridgeshire
Britain’s oldest windmill, Bourn dates from Tudor times and is a rare surviving example of a trestle post mill. Much of the mills’ interior and workings are original, with a number of names and dates carved on to the woodwork. There are five open days when you can see the mill in action between May and September; group visits are arrangeable at other times.
Windmill Hill, Hailsham, East Sussex
Sussex’s tallest post mill at 14.6 metres and the largest in overall body size in Britain. Although last worked by wind in 1894 (after which steam-driven stones were set up in the roundhouse), Windmill Hill has been restored as a working mill, and supervised access is gained by a long ladder. It’s open to the public on Sundays and bank holiday Mondays from April to September.
Lacey Green, Buckinghamshire
The country’s oldest surviving smock mill, Lacey Green was built in the 1650s. It ceased operating in 1915 and was used as a weekend cottage in the 1920s, before becoming a spectacle of dilapidation on its lofty Chilterns location. It was used as a Home Guard lookout post in the Second World War. From the early 1970s, it was painstakingly restored by the Chiltern Society.
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Little Marton, Blackpool, Lancashire
A well-know Blackpool landmark, this unusually complete 19th-century tower mill retains much of its original machinery, and is a fine stylistic example of a type once common in the windmilling stronghold of Fylde. It’s also maintained as a memorial to the popular Lancashire writer Allen Clarke (1863–935), one-time friend of the Little Marton miller.
Horsey Windpump, Horsey, Norfolk
One of the largest surviving Broads windpumps and the fourth to have stood on the spot since the 1700s, it was used to drain the bleak marshland to enable livestock farming. In National Trust care since the 1950s, the windpump recently reopened to visitors, with its restored cap and sails turning for the first time in over 75 years.
Windmills you can stay in
Cley Windmill, Cley-Next-the-Sea, Norfolk
Ideal for birdwatchers, this 18th-century, five-storey tower mill has views across the marshes in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Choose from a room in the tower in its bed and breakfast, or its self-catering holiday cottages at the nearby stables.
It also has a connection to the world of music, as it used to be the family home of singer James Blunt and was passed down through the Blount (Blunt's actual surname) family since the 1920s.
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Rye Windmill, East Sussex
A Grade II-listed smock mill on the banks of the Tillingham, minutes from the centre of the historic Sussex town.
Choose from one of its 10 rooms – two of them are within the windmill. The Windmill Suite is the largest of the bunch, and is set across 2 floors within the Mill.
Melin Y Bont, Bryn Du, Anglesey
If you want somewhere all by yourself, head to this Grade II-listed tower mill. The unusual 19th-century mill has 3 bedrooms and is dog-friendly.
Situated near the Anglesey Coast Path and under 30 miles from Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), it makes a useful base for exploring both shore and summit.
Discover more of Britain's history
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