Berney Arms Windmill
Encyclopedia
Berney Arms Windmill is located alongside the River Yare
at the south-westerly end of Breydon Water
.
The windmill is in an isolated spot. The best approach for the visitor is by river or via the nearby railway station at Berney Arms
. It is also possible to walk to the mill from Reedham
, which is about four miles south-west of the windmill.
. It is constructed from red brickwork with the outside sloping walls coated with tar
. The mill tower stands seven storeys high. The cap resembles an upturned clinker boat hull
and is a traditional style for Norfolk. The windmill has four sails and a fantail
. The mill's scoop wheel stands some way from the mill, which is unusual. The scoop wheel is linked to the mill by a horizontal shaft and has a diameter
of 24 feet (7.3 metres), with long wooden paddles. The paddles scooped water into a narrow brick-built culvert
and released it to the higher level of the River Yare
.
firm of Stolworthy. At first, it was used to grind cement
clinker
, using clay dredged from Oulton Broad
and brought to the mill by wherry
. The wherries brought mud
and lime to be fired at nearby kiln
s. The kilns produced a clinker which was ground to a powder in the windmill. Cement production closed down in 1880 and in 1883 the windmill was converted to work the drainage scoop to drain the surrounding marshland. The long period of restoration began in 1951.
River Yare
The River Yare is a river in the English county of Norfolk. In its lower reaches the river connects with the navigable waterways of The Broads....
at the south-westerly end of Breydon Water
Breydon Water
Breydon Water is a massive stretch of sheltered estuary at Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England. It is at gateway to the Norfolk Broads. It is the UK's largest protected wetland. It is 5 km long and more than 1.5 km wide in places...
.
The windmill is in an isolated spot. The best approach for the visitor is by river or via the nearby railway station at Berney Arms
Berney Arms railway station
Berney Arms railway station is a halt serving the remote settlement of Berney Arms in the Halvergate Marshes, in the English county of Norfolk.The station, which is from the nearest road, is the most remote station in Norfolk...
. It is also possible to walk to the mill from Reedham
Reedham, Norfolk
Reedham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk and within The Broads. It is situated on the north bank of the River Yare, some east of the city of Norwich, south-west of the town of Great Yarmouth and the same distance north-west of the Suffolk town of Lowestoft.The Romans...
, which is about four miles south-west of the windmill.
Description
The windmill is 71 feet (21.5 metres) tall and is the tallest drainage windmill in the county of NorfolkNorfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
. It is constructed from red brickwork with the outside sloping walls coated with tar
Tar
Tar is modified pitch produced primarily from the wood and roots of pine by destructive distillation under pyrolysis. Production and trade in tar was a major contributor in the economies of Northern Europe and Colonial America. Its main use was in preserving wooden vessels against rot. The largest...
. The mill tower stands seven storeys high. The cap resembles an upturned clinker boat hull
Clinker (boat building)
Clinker building is a method of constructing hulls of boats and ships by fixing wooden planks and, in the early nineteenth century, iron plates to each other so that the planks overlap along their edges. The overlapping joint is called a land. In any but a very small boat, the individual planks...
and is a traditional style for Norfolk. The windmill has four sails and a fantail
Windmill fantail
A Fantail is a small windmill mounted at right angles to the sails, at the rear of the windmill, and which turns the cap automatically to bring it into the wind. The fantail was patented in 1745 by Edmund Lee, a blacksmith working at Brockmill Forge near Wigan, England, and perfected on mills...
. The mill's scoop wheel stands some way from the mill, which is unusual. The scoop wheel is linked to the mill by a horizontal shaft and has a diameter
Diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints are on the circle. The diameters are the longest chords of the circle...
of 24 feet (7.3 metres), with long wooden paddles. The paddles scooped water into a narrow brick-built culvert
Culvert
A culvert is a device used to channel water. It may be used to allow water to pass underneath a road, railway, or embankment. Culverts can be made of many different materials; steel, polyvinyl chloride and concrete are the most common...
and released it to the higher level of the River Yare
River Yare
The River Yare is a river in the English county of Norfolk. In its lower reaches the river connects with the navigable waterways of The Broads....
.
History
The windmill was built in 1865 for the Reedham Cement Company by the millwrightMillwright
A millwright is a craftsman or tradesman engaged with the construction and maintenance of machinery.Early millwrights were specialist carpenters who erected machines used in agriculture, food processing and processing lumber and paper...
firm of Stolworthy. At first, it was used to grind cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
clinker
Clinker
Clinker may refer to:* Clinker , construction method for wooden boats* Clinker , waste from industrial processes* Clinker , a kilned then quenched cement product* Clinker brick, rough dark coloured bricks...
, using clay dredged from Oulton Broad
Oulton Broad
Oulton Broad refers to both the lake and the suburb of Lowestoft in Suffolk, England located 2 miles west of the centre of the town.-Oulton Broad:...
and brought to the mill by wherry
Wherry
A wherry is a type of boat that was traditionally used for carrying cargo or passengers on rivers and canals in England, and is particularly associated with the River Thames and also with the Broadland rivers of Norfolk and Suffolk. London passenger wherries evolved into the Thames skiff, a...
. The wherries brought mud
Mud
Mud is a mixture of water and some combination of soil, silt, and clay. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone . When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds...
and lime to be fired at nearby kiln
Kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Uses include the hardening, burning or drying of materials...
s. The kilns produced a clinker which was ground to a powder in the windmill. Cement production closed down in 1880 and in 1883 the windmill was converted to work the drainage scoop to drain the surrounding marshland. The long period of restoration began in 1951.
The Windmill today
The Windmill underwent a lengthy restoration programme starting in 1999 when the sails (that used to be seen turning everyday) were removed along with the cap and fantail. After a long period without them the cap was replaced during 2003, the fantail on 22nd April 2006 and finally the sails on 25th May 2007. Unfortunately due to the restricted access to the site the restored mill remained closed to the public indefinitely. During the Summer of 2009 however, English Heritage in partnership with a local boat touring company re-opened the mill on a limited basis on most Mondays over that period; it is hoped that this arrangement will be expanded during the 2010 season if all goes well.External links
- Berney Arms Windmill at Berney Arms Web
- Berney Arms Windmill at English Heritage