Mill news and topical information 🌍

Back in Feb 2024, Gareth Ross Buddell commented that he was building a 1/4 scale post mill. By July 2024, he'd completed it, and decked it out with colourful sails created from an old curtain. Gareth does work as a furniture restorer, and had some experience studying classical boat building at Falmouth Marine School, so building the mill in his garden in Bishopstone, Wiltshire was an extension of these pursuits. Its main structure is in green oak, costing a few hundred £s, and with electrical expertise help from Anthony Owen has incorporated a 500 watt e-bike motor being used as a generator to produce electricity. The design was adapted from survey drawings of Bourn windmill in Cambridgeshire. The windshaft turns a large wheel where the brakewheel is in the original, which meshes with a lantern gear which drives the generator via a pulley. There are some videos of the mill on Gareth's YouTube channel, The MillWrite, including it in action in a local field where it catches more wind than it does in the village high street.

Gareth wrote to King Charles about the mill, thinking it would appeal to his eco-ideals, and offering to oversee building him a version. The original prototype has been promissed to TWIGS Community Gardens.

As a follow up to this small scale device, Gareth has produced plans for a full scale mill, again to produce electricity, and is seeking offers of help, including crowdfunding the materials cost, but also volunteers say from a carpentry college, and from a landowner to provide a site for it, with perhaps a charity to operate the mill.

The cap of Buttrums mill in Woodbridge has been lifted off by Crowland Cranes as part of a refurbishment by millwright Tim Whiting, which includes

• overhaul of winding gear
• fresh coat of Belzona paint
• rectified fly
• four new sails

(more photos).

The sails had been removed a day or so earlier using a different crane and were dismantled and cut up on site.

Following on from the action in June 2025, when the National Trust withdrew their ill advised plan to simply take the sails off their mill at Burnham Overy Staithe, they are at least now engaging with the public to discuss possible ways of securing the future for the mill. They attended the parish council meeting on the 8th Sept, attended by about 50 locals, with Peter Nicholson, the NT's new general manager for the Norfolk Coast and Broads in attendance. He mentioned that no exact costing had been done, but estimated it being in the £700K to £1M range which they do not have available, but the Trust wants to sort out the mill as soon as it can. Options being looked at included

• a potentially viable option of leasing the mill to an "anonymous connection" who would restore it, in return for being allowed to build a house on the site, and sometimes opening it to the public
• seeing if the Landmark Trust would take on the building
• asking the community to help raise funds towards the restoration, which could then operate as a social enterprise, such as a café

None of these options are currently given on the Trust's page on the mill, which carries the general statement

Having listened to the strength of feeling locally for this iconic building, the National Trust team for the Norfolk Coast and Broads, together with key local and regional colleagues, wish to reconsider all options. This will include efforts to gain support and fundraise to protect the fabric of the building, followed by a period to consult on options of how we might best proceed.

The newspaper report of the meeting that I'm relying on had various replies from the public, and at least as presented I have to say that none of the options seem to be popular. Hopefully minutes of the meeting will be forthcoming soon.

Back in 2015, Plans for converting the Fernicombe windmill tower were submitted and approved, for

Conversion and change of use of the Fernicombe Windmill to a single residential unit, erection of new roof structure and single storey extension.

The plans, by Devon architect Christopher Pancheri, showed a well researched and actually pleasing looking structure, with a wooden cap, appropriately shaped for the Devon region, of which there are no existing examples remaining. Millwright Martin Watts is credited as supplying survey drawings as input in to the design.

Those plans were never executed, and the developers wanted more, so switched to SPX Architects of Yorkshire, who came up with a new planning application submitted 4 years later in 2019, this time for

Conversion and change of use of the former Fernicombe Windmill to a single residential unit, construction of new roof structure, addition of a linked 2-storey extension and associated landscaping works.

Note the increase in size of the extension to 2 storeys, and the subtle change to the wording about the roof. Actually the roof design had been completely changed from the historically accurate cap to a garish and inappropriate all round glass observation room. Many objections were made to this new design, and I guess that's why this application has taken so long to progress. In particular SPAB noted:

There is sufficient information on the drawings however for us to take the view that the proposed cap is still not close enough in design form to resemble what we believe was the carefully researched and drawn design of the 2015 application. This design reflected the style of cap found on South Devon Windmills until the latter part of the 19th century, since when all local mills have been lost, fallen into ruin or been converted so that no original mill caps survive. We feel that the works to Fernicombe Windmill offer one of the few opportunities to see a cap put back that would reflect the original design and so maintain the local tradition.

In late 2024 new plans were submitted within the still open application, and these got rid of the roof structure, (which many comments had described as a lighthouse) and instead stuck with what appears from the side elevation drawings to be a flat roof on the existing tower, (though the drawing comments note "windmill cap removed, replaced with glazed lantern", so it's not a completly flat opaque roof). These new plans were approved in May 2025.

The Watermills and Landscape of the River Great Ouse, Cambridgeshire, Bridget Flanagan and Keith Grimwade, (2025) Windgather Press. ISBN 978-1-914427-41-1

Chapter titles

1. Introduction
2. The Physical and Historical Background
3. The First Watermills: the Roman Period to 1066
4. A Water milling 'powerhouse': the Domesday Mills
5. The Age of Backwaters: 1086-1350
6. River Wars: 1515 - matters come to a head
7. The Age of Locks: a 17th century Technical Solution
8. Continuity, Disputes and Cooperation: 1700-1850
9. Decline and Romantic Appreciation: 1850 to the present day
10. Modelling and Managing the Watermilling Landscape

Cover shows an watercolour image of Houghton mill.

The BBC had an article about the restoration of a model of Bourn windmill. The model itself is 80 years old, created by Michael Dunn, in his basement workshop in Bristol in the 1940s, repurposing venetial blinds' slats. Repairs done to the model by the Cambourne Mens Shed between Sept 2024 and May 2025 included stripping paint, repairing sails, replacing damaged parts and then repainting in white (though the full size mill is painted black). The model will be on show on Bourn mill open days in 2025.

Michael's collection of windmill material amassed during the 1930-70s has been deposited by his daughter Jennifer Howes at the Mills Archive.

In 2020, the Wrights Clock Land charity sold half its land resulting in an enormous windfall, far in excess of the existing charity's needs. They thus registered a new charity, with widened objectives within the Fulborn parish. As a result, the new charity paid for a detailed Condition Report on the state of Fulbourn Windmill.

Subsequent to that, the charity has agreed to fund the mill restoration, subject to a strict set of conditions, including putting the windmill on a firm legal position, with an properly registered charitable trust, and a 99 year lease on the mill. The BBC reports that the mill has been owned by Ian Harrison since 2006, who has rebuilt its sails, but the discovery that the tower frame distortion meant the fantail was unable to turn the cap to wind, which mean that further self funded restoration work was unaffordable. Mr Harrison and his wife were happy to lease the mill in this way, saying

We also have to recognise that it sits in our garden and we won't be living in the house for the next 99 years, so we have got to think about looking after the interests of future generations as well.

A Planning application and Listed Building Consent have been submitted for

Repairs and alterations to existing windmill to enable it to run for demonstration purposes and related works including Change of Use together with the erection of a single storey extension to the existing domestic garage.

In more detail, the proposal listed are

EXISTING GARAGE

• to be extended to provide disabled wc, kitchenette and tool store, new brickwork to match existing in colour, texture, gauge and pointing, new rooftiles to match existing

EXTERNAL MILL REPAIRS

• reinstatement of former finial and gallery handrails (both already on site)
• replacement of existing copper cap covering with new copper (existing is likely to be damaged when the cap is craned off)
• stripping and replacing of weatherboarding with white painted weatherboarding of similar gauge to existing, including painted aluminium soakers at mitres
• alterations to fenestration (see detail drawings)
• fan stage rotten timbers to be replaced with matching new
• cast iron rack (concealed by petticoat) sections where broken to be replaced with matching castings
• half a set of sail shutters to be covered either with traditional paint-soaked canvas or man-made “Panama” rot-proof canvas

INTERNAL MILL REPAIRS

• remains of existing sole plate (which has largely been replaced in concrete) to be removed and replaced with new oak soleplate
• existing cant posts and framing timbers (many rotten, incomplete, or resin repaired) to be replaced in new oak
• kerb ring to be replaced in larger section timber

INTERNAL MILL ALTERATIONS

• new ground to first floor staircase, necessitating removal of a small area of first floor
• some machinery is painted silver, which is not traditional; either over-paint or chemically remove. Cast iron components to be finished either red oxide or a hammered black finish

The garage extension with its disabled WC, kitchenette, and tool shed, are to allow for visitor and volunteer needs to be met without imposing on the house in whose grounds the mill sits. Whilst most comments are supportive, there have been some questions on the highway impact of having public visitors to this site, which are being clarified. The SPAB has also questioned the plan to install the secondary set of stairs, including a stairlift, which would necessitate removal of a significant amount of historic material, which is unreversible, and disproportional to the benefit offered.

The planning documents include a full structural condition statement, prepared by Stuart Armitage, who has prevously worked on mills at Bourn, Kersey, Ludham, Nottingham, Great Gransden and Drinkstone amongst others. Reference is also made to [Luke] Bonwick's 2022 Condition Assessment and Conservation Plan, though that is not in the submitted documents.

Having been removed in Nov 2024, the sails were replaced on to Marsh Mill, Thornton in July 2025. The mill is (in)famous for having an electric motor installed that can turn the sails.

The work was done by Fylde Conservation, and they have photos of the work on Facebook. Contractors included AE Engineering Crane & Plant hire, and Wyre Scaffolding Ltd.

Back in May 2025 Clare Woodward-Nutt wrote an obituary of her father, Jim Woodward-Nutt who had died at the age of 90, for the Guardian. It covered his working life as a television engineer at the BBC, at the University of Aberdeen, and at Racecourse Technical services. It also touched on this political and consumer work, and had this to say on his mill passion:

He had a passion for wind and water mills, and in retirement managed the Shipley and Outwood windmills in Surrey on a part-time voluntary basis, milling wheat to produce flour for sale to visitors. Between 2008 and 2010 he was chair of the mills section of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.

Amongst his many responsibilities, Jim produced several editions of the Mills Open publication for the SPAB, and when that transferred online, the National Mills Weekend website.

Around about a year ago the sails and cap of Waltham windmill were removed for repair. On August 19th the millwright Tim Whiting oversaw the restored cap being lifted back on to the brand new curb. After testing and proving, the restored sails should follow in a few weeks.

Video and interview.

This is "old news", but only recently noticed. Judging by aerial imagery on Google Earth, sometime prior to July 2021 the mock windmill tower at Pine Dene, South Dissington was demolished. This was deliberately built to resemble a windmill, but served as a water tower. Despite its lack of real historical authenticity, it was a Grade II listed building

PONTELAND PINE DENE NZ 16 NW
20/349 Water tower in garden of Pine Dene 28.4.69 (formerly listed as Windmill in grounds of Pine Dene)
II
Water tower; at time of survey being converted into house. Early C20. Brick in stretcher bond. Bituminous tile roof. Built in form of windmill. Round, 5 storeys with strongly tapering profile. Small 4-pane segmental-headed windows. Wood balcony at lst floor level. Domed roof.
Listing NGR: NZ1290469567

I can't see any planning application that was made to cover this demolition work.

In March 2025 The National Trust made a Planning application for works at Burnham Overy Staithe windmill, for the following works:

The aim of the proposed works is to repair and conserve the Mill in the short term whilst future uses are considered. The objectives of the project are to:

• Temporarily remove the stock and sails. Store for future repair or replacement.
• Temporarily remove the fantail stage and fantail (already removed) due to health & safety concerns
• Temporarily remove cantilevered 1st floor walkway where partially collapsed and in a poor state of repair.
• Remove modern internal ceilings, insulation and partition walling to improve air circulation through the Mill tower.
• Reinstate ventilation grille in Fantail Stage Access Door where currently blocked
• Repair the roof finishes to maintain weathertightness
• Repair and redecorate windows

This proposal aroused a lot of public and official opposition - in effect it was the National Trust saying they had no long term plan in place for the future of the mill, and in particular not providing a timeline for the reinstatement of the sails. In the face of this opposition, they withdrew the proposal on 18th June 2025, hopefully to come back with a new proposal later that addresses the real issue of the long term future of this mill. NT statements said

Unfortunately, we have had to make the difficult decision to withdraw our application, as we do not have the funding in place or the specialist millwright skills secured to carry out the full-scale restoration work that is being asked for at the current time. Given the substantial costs for full repairs we will now need time to review and plan our next steps to ensure a sustainable future for the windmill. Having listened to the strength of feeling locally for this iconic building, the National Trust team for the Norfolk coast and Broads, together with key local and regional colleagues, wish to reconsider all options.

The Gardeners World 2025 episode 20 that aired on 8th August 2025, featured the story of Steve and Pippa Temple, and their garden containing Impington windmill. The couple bought the property in 1999, and whilst Pippa set to transforming the garden from an abandonned wasteland, Steve has been restoring the mill, using his background as an inventor to allow him to do much of the design and work himself.

The programme carried the emotional news that Steve has been been diagnosed with a terminal cancer.

It's long been a cliched photograph, showing the ancient power source of North Leverton windmill, dominated by the "modern" power source of the cooling towers of Cottam coal fired power station behind it. However times change, and the switch back to renewable power such as wind turbines and solar has rendered the power station which operated from 1968-2019 obsolete, so it and its cooling towers were redundant. As of 14th August 2025 the cooling towers are no more, having been demolished. All 8 towers, each 114m high, were blown up simultaneously by contractors Brown & Mason, taking about 10 seconds to entirely collapse. It's being claimed as the record for greatest number of cooling towers demolished in one go.

BBC video and ITV News video.

Halstead Community Shed have created some new coin operated models to be displayed at Bocking Windmill. The models include a length of sail with opening shutters, a wire dresser, and the millstones. They join a (somewhat stylized) model of a post mill that the shed produced earlier in the year. By having a coin slot, all the models encourage donations towards the mill.

Via: Facebook there is information on the repointing work of the tower of Heage windmill:

Fully restored in 2002, the weather had taken its toll on the windmill over the past two decades and extensive repairs have been necessary. Work on the sails and cap were carried out in 2023 and now repair work on the stone tower has been completed. Built from locally quarried stone, wind and rain had eroded the tower allowing water ingress in places and increasing damp in the building. Following consultation with Historic England, a plan to repair and refurbish the stone work was approved and work started last Autumn. Local Heritage Conservationist Andrew Churchman was tasked with carrying out the work returning the mill to how she would have looked in the late 1800s. The work has been principally funded by a Restoration Grant from the Association for Industrial Archaeology (AIA), the national society for industrial heritage, which has supported the study, preservation and presentation of industrial heritage in Britain since 1973. Additional financial support was also received from The Headley Trust.

The work started last autumn, and to facilitate it millwright John Boucher designed a scaffolding platform that hung from the fantail stage and yet still turned to wind with it, allowing the top half of the tower to be worked on. Work on the lower half of the tower then continued in spring and summer 2025.

Trevor Stainwright, who has provided part of his collection for use on this site, is still actively researching mills, and writing about them. His current output channel is via Facebook, where he concentrates on Northants Wind and Watermills.

Each article is packed with detail, and accompanied with a selection of images, including photos and maps. Recent subjects have included:

• Greens Norton Mills: Part 1. The tower mill
• Greens Norton Mills: Part 2. Kingthorn watermill
• Greens Norton Mills: Part 3. Gallards watermill
• Blakesley Tower mill
• Brixworth Mills
• Brackley Mills
• Braunston Tower mill
• Wellingborough Watermills Part 4: East (Hobill's) Mill
• Wellingborough Watermills Part 3: Redwell Mill.
• Kettering post mill
• Wellingborough Watermills Part 2: Mill Road mill
• Wellingborough watermills Part 1: Turnell's mill.
• Middleton Cheney mills
• Oundle Tower mill
• Barnwell Watermill
• Wootton Tower mill
• Abington watermill
• Raunds Tower mill
• Cogenhoe watermill
• Walgrave mills
• Twyford watermill

Prior to that, there was a post that helpfully indexed the previous 75 posts!

MILLS

Ashby St Ledgers: 2nd Sept 2021
Ashley: 28th Apr 2021
Astcote: 30th Dec 2020
Astwell: 18th/24th Sept 2020
Aynho: 31st Oct 2023
Badby: 25th Aug 2022
Barby: 2nd June 2023
Blisworth: 2nd/10th Aug 2020
Bozeat: 15th Feb 2022
Bugbrooke: 26th Mar 2020
Bulwick: 23rd Oct 2020
Burton Latimer: 2nd June 2022
Cosgrove: 14th May 2021
Cotterstock: 17th Sept 2021
Croughton: 5th Aug 2017, 31st Jan 2022
Daventry: 28th Mar 2024
Earls Barton: 10th/22nd June 2020
East Haddon: 5th Apr 2022
Easton-on-the-Hill: 19th Jan 2022
Eye (P'boro) 1st Oct 2021, 22nd Feb 2024
Flore: 26th June 2023
Great Doddington: 4th Mar 2022
Great Oakley: 6th Nov 2020
Gretton: 30th Jan 2020
Hardingstone: 18th Nov 2023
Hellidon: 22nd Sept 2023, 14th Oct 2023
Heyford: 23rd Oct 2018, 1st Dec 2021
Higham Ferrers: 2nd June 2021
Isham: 28th May 2016, 5th Apr 2021
Islip:20th May 2020
Kilsby: 21st July 2023
Kings Cliffe: 27th Apr 2023
Kingsthorpe: 24th July 2021, 5th/18th Aug 2021
Long Buckby: 17th Nov 2021
Mears Ashby: 6th Nov 2019
Milton Malsor: 2nd Jan 2023
Moreton Pinkney: 12th Mar 2021
Naseby: 9th Dec 2020
Northampton: 23rd Apr 2022, 28th Jan 2024
Old: 26th Aug 2020
Old Stratford: 12th Jan 2024
Passenham: 10th Mar 2024
Perio (Southwick): 11th May 2022
Ringstead: 18th/31st Aug 2023
Rothersthorpe: 23rd Apr 2022
Rothwell: 13th/27th Jan/13th Feb 2021
Rushden: 4th/11th May 2020
Scaldwell: 11th Dec 2021
Stanwick: 5th Oct 2020
Staverton: 3rd July 2021
Syresham: 31st Mar 2020
Thrapston: 16th June 2020
Titchmarsh: 27th Nov 2020
Towcester: 23rd Dec 2023
Wadenhoe: 23rd March 2022
Wellingborough: 22nd Feb 2019
Weston Favell: 2nd June 2022
Weston-by-Welland: 29th May 2020
Woodford: 7th/14th Oct 2022, 2nd March 2023
Yarwell: 21st Feb 2021
Yelvertoft: 1st July 2020

OTHERS

Hugh Howes, Author: 29th May 2017
Justin Brice contribution: 4th Dec 2021
Paul Young Contributions: 4th/10th/20th/25th Apr 2021, 10th June/8th Oct/20th Nov 2021, 27th Mar/22nd May 2022
The Lost Post mills of N'ants: 11th Nov 2022
The Haynes Family of Millers: 30th Jan 2023
F. C. Gill - An appreciation: 29th Mar 2023
Watermill Tearooms: 19th Aug 2023
Whissendine windmill in Rutland: 8th Oct/20th Nov 2021
Windmill carvings: 1st Jan 2022
Viewers Paintings: 12th May 2023
Turnell's Mill W'boro: 2013-2019 25th June/6th Oct 2021

Trevor has put out an appeal as to whether owners of converted mills want to get in touch with him, so that he can run a feature on them.

There is a considerable crack in the wall of the roundhouse of Argos Hill that is currently being repaired. Although probably caused by the ground drying out over the course of this very dry summer, in preparing the outer render for the work, eveidence has been found of previous repairs, so it's not just a new problem.

Weather permitting, the plan is to replace the stocks, sweeps, and cheeks on White Mill, Sandwich on 23rd September.

The iconic sails are returning to Skidby Mill, or rather there is some progress towards that goal. The sails were removed in 2019 after rot was discovered in the supporting beams, and the mill closed in 2020 for restoration. The restoration has been delayed due to finding more cap damage, and the busy schedule of the millwright (Tim Whiting), but the sails are due back this year. The cap has been lifted to the ground, and a replacment tailbeam will be installed, together with more weatherproofing. 3 bearings have failed, and need to be fabricated. Once the cap is repaired, inspected and repainted, it will be replaced, and the sails reinstated. Perhaps rather short-sightedly the reinstated sails will be static, without shutters, not allowed to turn. Turning sails would generally prolong their life, since it helps prevent weather ingress building up.

In the storms of 5-6th July 2025, a lighning bolt struck the sails of Wimbledon windmill. Although the windmill museum was open at the time, and visitors were inside the mill, the lightning protection did its job, and noone suffered any injury. However, the struck sail was damaged, along with some electrics inside the mill.

The estimated cost of the repairs comes to around £13,000

• £1800 to repair the lightning struck sail
• £11,000 to repair the fantail mechanism and bearings, including crane hire to facilitate the work

A crowdfunding appeal launched in August has now successfully raised almost £20,000 (with gift aid) to fund the work (which has already been done).

Coverage of the activity:

• Launch of the appeal on 7th August
• Reinstatment of the fantail on 20th August
• Lightning-damaged windmill saved by extraordinary community effort in one week

For a number of years now, De Hollandsche Molen have been running a series of online (and free of charge) conferences titled the Craft of the Miller. The inspiration for the conferences was when in 2017, the craft of the miller became the Netherlands' first entry onto the Representative List of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Since the craft of milling is international, the intention of the conferences is

to build a sustainable network and bring parties together to share knowledge, skills and experiences in the field of mills, the safeguarding of the craft of the miller and create worldwide publicity for the craft of millers.

So far in 2025 there have been conferences on

• Watermill biotope - discussing the watermill landscape, and possible threats to it
• Millstones

The next conference is planned for October about German mills and millers, but details are not yet available.

Once you install digital monitoring technology into traditional windmills, there are all sorts of things you can do with that data. The two main organizations pursuing digital monotoring of this sort are

• Smartmolen
• Spinning Mills

They have got together to share their data, and the Windmill Whirl-Off is the result, a fun league table of how many sail revolutions each mill they monitor has had this year, which they describe thus:

A fun and friendly international celebration of windmill sail rotation ... because keeping windmills turning is keeping heritage alive.

Not surprisingly, the table is topped by Dutch mills, which operate commercially. The top UK mill is Wicken, which runs quite regularly producing flour effectively on a hobby basis. Second of the UK mills is Upminster.

When Upminster windmill was restored, the Friends of Upminster Windmill who run the mill realized that they needed a way to monitor the mill. That caused them to develop smartmolen, which is a digital monitoring solution for traditional windmills. It's primarily used to monitor the orientation of mills (such as Upminster) that use a fantail to turn to wind automatically. By using digital sensors installed in the cap, the orientation is determined, and transmitted to the rest of the system that checks how that matches with observed and forecast wind conditions. A live graphical view of the data is shown on the Smartmolen website, and alerts can be sent if there is, or is a risk of, a tailwind situation.

The system won the BAFM Impact Award 2021 in recognition of its benefits for both preservation and visitor engagement. Having been developed specifically for Upminster, the system has now been installed in an increasing number of other windmills, in the UK and mainland Europe.

The system will be demonstrated at the upcoming SPAB Mills conference on 4th October.

SPAB is holding its first in person conference for many years, to cover 2 main areas

• the maintenance, repair and monitoring of mills
• how to create, preserve and display documents.

The meeting is happening on 4th October, at the Mills Archive in Reading. Speakers include

• Mildred Cookson and Nathanael Hodge from the Mills Archive Trust, covering caring for documents and images
• Dr Toby Huitson and Duncan McCallum, exploring the Mills at Risk theme and the intricacies of listing historic buildings
• Justin Coombs demonstrating his innovative Smartmolen Project
• Millwright Cameron Southcott talking about mill repair and maintenance
• Dr. Michael Nevell presenting the Industrial Heritage Support Project