West Kingsdown Post Mill
The windmills in 1906
Origin
Mill nameOld Mill
Coordinates51°20′14″N 0°16′11″E / 51.33722°N 0.26972°E / 51.33722; 0.26972
Year builtLate 19th century
Information
PurposeCorn mill
TypePost mill
Roundhouse storeysSingle storey roundhouse
No. of sailsFour sails
Type of sailsTwo Common sails and two Spring Sails
WindshaftCast iron
WindingTailpole
Year lost1909
Other informationMoved from Tubs Hill, Sevenoaks between 1864 and 1880
West Kingsdown Smock Mill
The surviving smock mill
Origin
Mill locationPells Lane, West Kingsdown, Kent
Grid referenceTQ 582 623
Operator(s)Kent County Council
Year built1880
Information
PurposeCorn mill
TypeSmock mill
StoreysFour-storey smock
Base storeysSingle-storey base
Smock sidesEight-sided
No. of sailsFour
Type of sailsTwo Common sails and two double Patent sails
WindshaftCast iron
WindingFantail
Fantail bladesSeven blades
No. of pairs of millstonesThree pairs
Other informationMoved from Farningham in 1880

West Kingsdown Windmill is a Grade II listed[1] smock mill in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, that was built in the early nineteenth century at Farningham and moved to West Kingsdown in 1880. It is the survivor of a pair of windmills.

History

Post mill

William Coles Finch stated that the post mill was originally built at Sevenoaks.[2] However, the mill may have been built on site c.1804, when it was advertised for sale in the Kentish gazette of 25 September 1804.[3]

In 1880, it was joined by the smock mill that was moved from Farningham and which survives today. The post mill was burnt down in May 1909 when a steam roller set fire to some straw near the mill and the fire then spread to the mill.[2]

Smock mill

West Kingsdown Windmill was built in the early nineteenth century at Chimham's Farm, Farningham. It was marked on the 1819–20 Ordnance Survey map,[3] Greenwoods map of 1821 and the Farningham Tithe Map of 1840. In 1880, it was moved to West Kingsdown, joining a post mill that was already there. The post mill burnt down in May 1909. The mill was working by wind until 1928. One of the sails was damaged on 25 December 1929 and the fantail blew off in November 1930.[2] The mill was restored externally in 1960 by Thompson & Son, Millwrights of Alford, Lincolnshire[4] at a cost of £4.400.[5] In 2009, repairs to the weatherboards were made, and the mill was repainted. As of November 2010, it is awaiting the fitting of new sails.[6]

Description

Post mill

Old Mill was a post mill on a single-storey roundhouse. It was winded by a tailpole. It had two Spring sails and two Common Sails carried on a cast-iron windshaft.

Smock Mill

The Fantail, January 2009

West Kingsdown Mill is a four-storey smock mill on a single storey single-storey brick base. There was a stage at first-floor level. It has two double Patent sails and two Common sails carried on a cast-iron windshaft. The mill is winded by a fantail. The original fantail had seven blades,[2] but this was replaced with a six-bladed one when the mill was restored in 1960. A seven-bladed fantail has since been fitted. All the machinery remains in the mill, except for the final drive to the millstones.[4]

Millers

Post mill

Sevenoaks
  • William Knott 1792 - 1814
  • Charles Knott - 1864
  • William Eames 1864-
West Kingsdown
  • Tanner Norton 1880-

Smock mill

Farningham
  • Collyer 1826 - 1850
  • William Kipping 1840
  • W Moore
  • David Norton
  • Tanner Norton - 1880
West Kingsdown
  • Tanner Norton 1880 -
  • Frank Norton
  • Cork 1929
  • Hankin

References for above:-[2][4][7]

References

  1. ↑ Historic England. "KINGSDOWN MILL, PELLS LANE, WEST KINGSDOWN, SEVENOAKS, KENT (1267420)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 17 April 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Coles Finch, William (1933). Watermills and Windmills. London: C W Daniel Company. pp. 230, 273.
  3. 1 2 Cumming, Rob (2014). The Windmills of North West Kent and Kentish London (and the men who built them). Catrine: Stenlake Publishing. pp. 48–51. ISBN 9781840336634.
  4. 1 2 3 West, Jenny (1973). The Windmills of Kent. London: Charles Skilton Ltd. pp. 52–54. ISBN 0-284-98534-1.
  5. ↑ Brown, R J (1976). Windmills of England. London: Robert Hale. pp. 112–113. ISBN 0-7091-5641-3.
  6. ↑ Cumming, Rob (2010). "Mill News". Cant Post. Kent: Kent Mills Society (2): 7.
  7. ↑ "Directory of Kent Mill People". The Mills Archive Trust. Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2008.
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