At the top of a quiet footpath, with far-flung views across the South Downs towards Chichester and the sea, Halnaker Mill stands in glorious isolation, as ruggedly picturesque as when JMW Turner painted the scene in the 1830s. Just under a century later, however, it was a sail-less, cap-less ruin.
In 1923, writer and historian Hilaire Belloc made it a romantic metaphor for the passing of old rural ways in his poem Ha’naker Mill: “Ha’nacker Mill is in desolation: Ruin-a-top and a field unploughed”.
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Owned by West Sussex County Council, Halnaker is not neglected now. But it’s effectively a ghost mill, without internal floors or working machinery, a monument to a building type left behind by time.
When did windmills stop being used in the UK?
The last windmills in Britain stopped working commercially in the 1970s, most long before that. Those that remain standing are deeply evocative of the past. No two are ever alike, and their shapes seem eccentric. The sails (or sweeps) may now be stationary, but their sighting brings a surge of joy, and if the sails are going round, it’s thrilling. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote that windmills “put a spirit of romance into the tamest landscape”.
Where can you find windmills in the UK?
At their wheat, barley and oat-grinding peak, from the Middle Ages through to the Industrial Revolution, there were an estimated 10,000 working windmills in England. They were common in the flatter, drier counties of the East Midlands, East Anglia and the South East, as well as around Lancashire and Cheshire.
Counties with a higher number of streams, from Hampshire westwards, favoured watermills. But steam mills at large ports, churning out bags of grain at faster, greater rates, were sounding the death knell for windmills by the end of the 19th century. In his 1947 book British Windmills and Watermills, CP Skilton refers to “over 2,000 derelict windmills in Britain, but less than 100 working”.
How are windmills being restored?
Fortunately, conservationists had already kicked into gear. In 1931, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) formed a special Mills Section to campaign for preservation and restoration. It still operates today. Many historic windmills have been restored, some converted for habitation, but many, such as Bourn Mill, are run by local trusts as visitor attractions, their machinery lovingly maintained or restored.
What is England's oldest windmill?
Bourn Mill is recognised as England's oldest windmill. In 1936, it was saved from dereliction by Cambridge Past, Present & Future (originally the Cambridge Preservation Society). Carbon dating of the timber to the 1530s suggests it was operating in the Tudor period.
The windmill is strategically placed at a wind-catching high point in a field by the old miller’s cottage, between the historic villages of Bourn and Caxton. “The scene’s largely unchanged since the mill featured in one of Kenneth Steel’s British Railways posters of the 1950s, even though the new town of Cambourne has since sprung up close by, and Cambridge is just a short drive away,” says James Littlewood, chief executive of Cambridge Past, Present & Future.
Bourn’s rarity as an open trestle post mill is recognised in its Grade I listing. While we rhapsodise over the charm of windmills, they were, as James puts it, “really giant machines rather than buildings”, and they evolved over time. “Open trestle post mills were the earliest types, but they were a flawed design. One problem is that the support structures are exposed to weather and vulnerable to rot. So few of them have survived. We’re fortunate that Bourn’s main post is still original, as is much of the interior.”
Later post mill designers enclosed the lower part in a brick ‘skirt’, making mills more stable and secure, but Bourn’s exposed frame nearly did for it in 2020, says James. “The supporting structures had rotted to such an extent that it was a miracle it didn’t collapse. There were many sleepless nights until we were able to raise funds to have the mill supported by scaffolding.”
The situation was so perilous that Historic England – the body charged with preserving important public buildings – put the mill on its Heritage At Risk Register for a time, while providing an emergency grant. A further fundraising appeal raised funds for the replacement of the huge cross beams supporting the entire structure and the repair of the brick piers. Bourn came off the At Risk Register in 2023. Yet the costs won’t end there. Caring for these structures is an expensive business, says James.
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“Repairs must respect the heritage of the building, and there are few people who have the skills and knowledge to do the work,” he explains. “The contractor that repaired Bourn won a craftsmanship award for their work.”
Yet clearly it was worth it. “Projects like this provide work and the opportunity to train people,” adds James. “Bourn Windmill ceased to have an economic value once engines took its place grinding corn. Today, its value is giving people the chance to step back in time and imagine life in the medieval period. We’re immensely proud of Bourn’s heritage, which is why the mill is cared for and kept open by dedicated volunteers.”
What is the future for other windmills?
Not all windmills are faring so well. In East Sussex, Polegate Windmill is a handsome red-brick windmill standing on high ground between the Downs and the Sussex Weald. It’s a tower mill, a later, taller, sturdier mill type. It worked commercially into the middle of the last century, and its intact machinery and museum on milling history can be seen on open days advertised on the mill’s Facebook page.
But rainwater is damaging the beams that support the mill stones and eroding the brickwork. It was placed on the At Risk Register in 2023, and funding is needed for urgent work to make the mill watertight and to carry out a full survey of its condition.
Meanwhile, cash-strapped Kent County Council have announced plans to sell off eight historic windmills in its care, including Union Mill, Cranbrook, one of the finest surviving smock mills in England. SPAB has expressed concern, wanting the mills to remain “accessible to the public, rather than converted into private homes”.
SPAB recently brought Kibworth Harcourt windmill, the only surviving post mill in Leicestershire, back to working order for the first time since the 1930s. However, with so many local authorities struggling for cash, the society anticipates more mills applying to its Mill Repair Fund.
“Sadly, when budgets are under threat, heritage is often the first to go,” says director Matthew Slocombe. “The good news is that a big repair project, like ours at Kibworth Harcourt, can attract and galvanise local interest and support. We now have an active volunteer group looking after the mill, opening it to visitors. We’re planning to expand the funding we offer for both windmills and watermills, so that other mills can experience the positive change we’ve had at Kibworth.”
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