Stone Cross Windmill
Encyclopedia
Stone Cross Windmill is a grade II* listed tower mill
at Stone Cross, Sussex
, England
which has been restored and is open to the public. The mill was also known as Blackness Mill and the White Mill.
millwright
. The towe was built by Thomas Honeysett, a local bricklayer and fitted out by Neve with machinery supplied by the Phoenix Iron Foundry, Lewes. Two sails were blown off in 1925. It was working by wind until 1937. The mill was used as an observation post during the Second World War. In January 1962, planning permission was granted to convert the mill into a house. Mr Ron Hall, the owner of the Mill House, bought the mill and outbuildings, and decided to restore the mill instead of converting it to residential use.
In 1966, Mr Hall started to repair the mill, which in 1977 was in a similar condition to when it stopped working, with two sails and missing the fantail. By the 1990s, the mill was getting into disrepair, and a trust was formed to buy and restore the mill. Stone Cross Mill Trust became a registered charity in 1996, and work to restore the mill began in 1998. The mill was able to produce wholemeal flour again in 2000. In 2005, the Trust were awarded a plaque by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings
"in recognition of the high quality of the restoration of the mill back to working order". Funding for the restoration was provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund
, South East England Development Agency
, East Sussex County Council and Wealden District Council. Stone Cross Mill is twinned with De Wachter, Zuidlaren
, Netherlands
.
. It has four Patent sails
carried on a cast iron
Windshaft. The 8 in 7 in (2.62 m) diameter Brake Wheel is iron. The three pairs of millstone
s are overdriven. The tower is 16 in 6 in (5.03 m) diameter at the base and 11 feet (3.35 m) at the curb, with a height of 38 feet (11.58 m) to the curb.
References for above:-
Tower mill
A tower mill is a type of windmill which consists of a brick or stone tower, on top of which sits a roof or cap which can be turned to bring the sails into the wind....
at Stone Cross, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, 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...
which has been restored and is open to the public. The mill was also known as Blackness Mill and the White Mill.
History
Stone Cross Windmill was built in 1876 by Stephen Neve, the WarbletonWarbleton
Warbleton is a civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. Within its bounds are four settlements, one of which gives its name to the parish. It is located south-east of Heathfield on the slopes of the Weald.-History:...
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...
. The towe was built by Thomas Honeysett, a local bricklayer and fitted out by Neve with machinery supplied by the Phoenix Iron Foundry, Lewes. Two sails were blown off in 1925. It was working by wind until 1937. The mill was used as an observation post during the Second World War. In January 1962, planning permission was granted to convert the mill into a house. Mr Ron Hall, the owner of the Mill House, bought the mill and outbuildings, and decided to restore the mill instead of converting it to residential use.
In 1966, Mr Hall started to repair the mill, which in 1977 was in a similar condition to when it stopped working, with two sails and missing the fantail. By the 1990s, the mill was getting into disrepair, and a trust was formed to buy and restore the mill. Stone Cross Mill Trust became a registered charity in 1996, and work to restore the mill began in 1998. The mill was able to produce wholemeal flour again in 2000. In 2005, the Trust were awarded a plaque by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings
Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings
The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings was founded by William Morris, Philip Webb and J.J.Stevenson, and other notable members of the Pre Raphaelite brotherhood, in 1877, to oppose what they saw as the insensitive renovation of ancient buildings then occurring in Victorian...
"in recognition of the high quality of the restoration of the mill back to working order". Funding for the restoration was provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
, South East England Development Agency
South East England Development Agency
SEEDA, more officially the South East England Development Agency, is one of a number of regional development agencies in England. It was set up as a non-departmental public body in 1999 to promote the region and to enable a number of more difficult regeneration projects which otherwise might not...
, East Sussex County Council and Wealden District Council. Stone Cross Mill is twinned with De Wachter, Zuidlaren
Zuidlaren
Zuidlaren is a village in the province of Drenthe in the Northern Netherlands. Zuidlaren has just over 10,000 inhabitants and is situated on natural heightened land which is called the Hondsrug....
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
Description
Stone Cross Windmill is a five storey tower mill with a stage at first floor level. the mill has a domed cap which is winded by a fantailWindmill 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...
. It has four Patent 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:...
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 8 in 7 in (2.62 m) diameter Brake Wheel is iron. The three pairs of 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 are overdriven. The tower is 16 in 6 in (5.03 m) diameter at the base and 11 feet (3.35 m) at the curb, with a height of 38 feet (11.58 m) to the curb.
Millers
- Samuel Dallaway 1876 - 1878
- Frederick Dallaway 1878 - 1895
- Henry Dallaway 1895 - 1937
References for above:-
External links
- Official website
- Windmill World Page on Stone Cross windmill.