Shipley Windmill
Encyclopedia
King's Mill or Vincent's Mill, Shipley
, West Sussex
, England
is a smock mill
built in 1879 which has been restored and was open to the public until its closure on 19 July 2009.
millwright
s. Machinery from a windmill at Coldwaltham
is believed to have been incorporated in the mill. The mill worked commercially until 1926, latterly by a steam engine. It was bought in 1906 by Hilaire Belloc
, who owned it until his death in 1953. King's Mill was restored as a memorial to Belloc soon after his death. The restoration was done by E Hole and Sons, the Burgess Hill
millwrights. The restored mill was opened to visitors for the first time in 1958. West Sussex County Council had the responsibility for the upkeep of the mill, which remained in the ownership of the Belloc family. The Shipley Windmill Charitable Trust was formed in 1987 and which had responsibility for the maintenance. Further restoration work was carried out by Hole's between 1987 and 1990, when the mill re-opened, although with only two sweeps at that time. The second pair of sweeps was fitted in 1991. A new pair of sweeps and a new stock were fitted in November 2004.King's Mill is in working order. On 7 April 2009, it was announced that the mill was to close to the public as the lease owned by Shipley Mill Charitable Trust only had three years to run and they had been notified that the lease would not be renewed when it expired. The mill opened for the 2009 season on 5 April, and held its last open day on 19 July.
carried on a cast iron
windshaft. The octagonal conical cap is winded by a fantail
. The Brake Wheel is wood, driving a cast iron Wallower on an oak Upright Shaft. This carries a cast iron Great Spur Wheel which drives three pairs of overdrift millstone
s.
Reference for above:-
's home in the BBC series of that name.
Shipley, West Sussex
Shipley is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies just off the A272 road six miles north east of Storrington....
, West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
is 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...
built in 1879 which has been restored and was open to the public until its closure on 19 July 2009.
History
King's Mill was built in 1879 at a cost of £2,500 by Messrs Grist and Steele, the HorshamHorsham
Horsham is a market town with a population of 55,657 on the upper reaches of the River Arun in the centre of the Weald, West Sussex, in the historic County of Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester...
millwright
Millwright
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...
s. Machinery from a windmill at Coldwaltham
Coldwaltham
Coldwaltham is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It is divided in two by the A29 road and lies 2.4 miles southwest of Pulborough which has both a railway station on the Arun Valley Line and a bus connection to Worthing...
is believed to have been incorporated in the mill. The mill worked commercially until 1926, latterly by a steam engine. It was bought in 1906 by Hilaire Belloc
Hilaire Belloc
Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian who became a naturalised British subject in 1902. He was one of the most prolific writers in England during the early twentieth century. He was known as a writer, orator, poet, satirist, man of letters and political activist...
, who owned it until his death in 1953. King's Mill was restored as a memorial to Belloc soon after his death. The restoration was done by E Hole and Sons, the Burgess Hill
Burgess Hill
Burgess Hill is a civil parish and a town primarily located in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park...
millwrights. The restored mill was opened to visitors for the first time in 1958. West Sussex County Council had the responsibility for the upkeep of the mill, which remained in the ownership of the Belloc family. The Shipley Windmill Charitable Trust was formed in 1987 and which had responsibility for the maintenance. Further restoration work was carried out by Hole's between 1987 and 1990, when the mill re-opened, although with only two sweeps at that time. The second pair of sweeps was fitted in 1991. A new pair of sweeps and a new stock were fitted in November 2004.King's Mill is in working order. On 7 April 2009, it was announced that the mill was to close to the public as the lease owned by Shipley Mill Charitable Trust only had three years to run and they had been notified that the lease would not be renewed when it expired. The mill opened for the 2009 season on 5 April, and held its last open day on 19 July.
Description
King's Mill is a four storey smock mill on a two storey brick base. It has four Patent SailsWindmill sail
Windmills are powered by their sails. Sails are found in different designs, from primitive common sails to the advanced patent sails.-Jib sails:...
carried on a cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
windshaft. The octagonal conical cap is winded by 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 Brake Wheel is wood, driving a cast iron Wallower on an oak Upright Shaft. This carries a cast iron Great Spur Wheel which drives three pairs of overdrift millstone
Millstone
Millstones or mill stones are used in windmills and watermills, including tide mills, for grinding wheat or other grains.The type of stone most suitable for making millstones is a siliceous rock called burrstone , an open-textured, porous but tough, fine-grained sandstone, or a silicified,...
s.
Millers
- Friend Martin 1879 - 1884
- William Rapley
- R Wood 1884 - 1895
- Richard Vincent 1898
- Ernest Powell - 1926
Reference for above:-
Culture and media
The mill was the filming location for Jonathan CreekJonathan Creek
Jonathan Creek is a British mystery series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. Primarily a crime drama, the show is also peppered with broadly comic touches...
's home in the BBC series of that name.
Further reading
Online versionExternal links
- Shipley Windmill
- Fitting new sails at Shipley Windmill
- Windmill World entry for Shipley Windmill.