Drinkstone windmills
Encyclopedia
Drinkstone Windmills are a pair of windmill
s at Drinkstone
, Suffolk
, England. They consist a post mill
and a smock mill
. The post mill is Grade I listed and the smock mill is Grade II listed. The mills were known as Clover’s Mills as they were always worked by the Clover family.
which had been in existence in 1689.
post mill. A brick and flint roundhouse was added in 1830. The mill was originally powered by Common sails
. Spring sails were fitted during the nineteenth century and the mill was finally worked with one pair of spring and one pair of common sails. The mill has a wooden windshaft with a cast iron poll end, which was fitted by the millwright C Sillitoe of Long Melford
. In the 1920s, an air brake was fitted to the sails, but the scheme was not successful and was abandoned Winding was by tailpole until the 1940s, when the fantail
carriage from Barley Green Mill, Stradbroke
was fitted. This was worked by a winch to start with and the fantail from Thurston
Mill was fitted during World War Two. The fantail from Woolpit
Mill was fitted in 1963.
The frame of the mill shows its age, there being no side girts. The body has been extended in the breast and tail, and the mill may have been reconstructed so that the original breast of the mill is now the tail. The mill has two pairs of millstones. The structure is currently on the Heritage at Risk Register.
.
Reference for above:-
episode "Don't Forget the Diver
" in which Lance Corporal Jones
went round on the sails of the mill and was thrown off into a pond.
Windmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
s at Drinkstone
Drinkstone
Drinkstone is a small settlement in Suffolk, England. It is near the A14 road and is southeast of the town of Bury St Edmunds....
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, England. They consist a post mill
Post mill
The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. The defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single vertical post, around which it can be turned to bring the sails into the wind. The earliest post mills in England are thought to have...
and a smock mill
Smock mill
The smock mill is a type of windmill that consists of a sloping, horizontally weatherboarded tower, usually with six or eight sides. It is topped with a roof or cap that rotates to bring the sails into the wind...
. The post mill is Grade I listed and the smock mill is Grade II listed. The mills were known as Clover’s Mills as they were always worked by the Clover family.
Post mill
Drinkstone post mill was built in 1689, making it the oldest windmill in Suffolk. Samuel Clover was given the post mill, horse mill and mill house by his father (Samuel Sr) in 1775. The mill passed to his son (Samuel Jr, b1752) and thence through a succession of Clovers’ to Wilfred, who took the mill on the death of his father Daniel in 1947. On 28 February 1949 the mill was tailwinded, damaging the sails and fantail. The mill became derelict until Mr Clover restored it in 1962 and put her back to workSmock mill
Drinkstone smock mill was built in 1780 on a horse millHorse mill
A horse mill is a mill that uses a horse as the power source. Any milling process can be powered in this way, but the most frequent use of animal power in horse mills was for grinding grain and pumping water. Other animals used for powering mills include dogs, donkeys and oxen. Engines powered by...
which had been in existence in 1689.
Post mill
Drinkstone post mill was built as an open trestleTrestle (mill)
The Trestle of a Post mill is the arrangement of the Main post, crosstrees and quarterbars that form the substructure of this type of windmill. It may or may not be surrounded by a roundhouse...
post mill. A brick and flint roundhouse was added in 1830. The mill was originally powered by Common sails
Windmill sail
Windmills are powered by their sails. Sails are found in different designs, from primitive common sails to the advanced patent sails.-Jib sails:...
. Spring sails were fitted during the nineteenth century and the mill was finally worked with one pair of spring and one pair of common sails. The mill has a wooden windshaft with a cast iron poll end, which was fitted by the millwright C Sillitoe of Long Melford
Long Melford
Long Melford is a large village and civil parish in the county of Suffolk, England. It is on Suffolk's border with Essex, which is marked by the River Stour, approximately from Colchester and from Bury St. Edmunds...
. In the 1920s, an air brake was fitted to the sails, but the scheme was not successful and was abandoned Winding was by tailpole until the 1940s, when the 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...
carriage from Barley Green Mill, Stradbroke
Stradbroke
Stradbroke is a village in Suffolk, England, United Kingdom. It is in the Mid Suffolk District and part of the East of England Region of England. Stradbroke is near to the small Suffolk town of Eye and the larger Norfolk market town of Diss...
was fitted. This was worked by a winch to start with and the fantail from Thurston
Thurston
-People:*Rev. Asa Thurston , Hawaiian missionary*Baratunde Thurston , American Comedian*Curt Thurston , European activist & businessman*Darren Thurston , Canadian animal rights activist...
Mill was fitted during World War Two. The fantail from Woolpit
Woolpit
Woolpit is a village in the English county of Suffolk, midway between the towns of Bury St. Edmunds and Stowmarket As of 2007 it has a population of 2030. It is notable for the 12th-century legend of the green children of Woolpit and for its parish church, which has especially fine medieval woodwork...
Mill was fitted in 1963.
The frame of the mill shows its age, there being no side girts. The body has been extended in the breast and tail, and the mill may have been reconstructed so that the original breast of the mill is now the tail. The mill has two pairs of millstones. The structure is currently on the Heritage at Risk Register.
Smock mill
Drinkstone smock mill is a two storey smock mill on a single storey base, which originally housed a horse mill. The mill has a pepperpot cap which was originally winded by a chain and wheel, a fantail being added towards the end of her working life. The mill was last worked with a pair of Common sails and a pair of Spring sails. The windshaft was a wooden one. The millstones were supported on a hurst frame, an arrangement usually found in a watermillWatermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
.
Millers
- Samuel Clover Sr – 1775
- Samuel Clover 1775 –
- Samuel Clover Jr
- John Clover
- Daniel Clover
- Mrs Clover – 1900
- Daniel Clover 1900 – 1947
- Wilfred Clover 1947 – 1949, 1962 –
Reference for above:-
Culture and media
Drinkstone post mill was featured in the Dad's ArmyDad's Army
Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...
episode "Don't Forget the Diver
Don't Forget the Diver
-Synopsis:Don’t Forget the Diver is the 22nd adapted radio episode, and the first of the second radio series , of Dad's Army...
" in which Lance Corporal Jones
Lance-Corporal Jack Jones
Lance Corporal Jack Jones is a fictional Home Guard platoon lance-corporal, veteran of the British Empire and butcher portrayed by Clive Dunn in the BBC television sitcom Dad's Army...
went round on the sails of the mill and was thrown off into a pond.
External links
- Windmill World webpage on Drinkstone post mill.
- Windmill World webpage on Drinkstone smock mill.