Wandsworth Common Windmill is a conserved grade II listed 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...

 at Wandsworth Common

Wandsworth Common

Wandsworth common is a public common in Wandsworth, south London. It is close to Clapham Common and Wandsworth Common railway station. It is wholly in the London borough of Wandsworth...

, in the London Borough of Wandsworth

London Borough of Wandsworth

The London Borough of Wandsworth is a London borough in southwest London, England, and forms part of Inner London.-History:The borough was formed in 1965 from the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea and much of the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth, but...

 in the United Kingdom.

History

Wandsworth Common Windmill was built in 1837 to drain water from the railway cutting of the London and Southampton Railway. The water was pumped into an ornamental lake on Wandsworth Common known as the Black Sea, which had been dug by Mr Wilson, the founder of Price's Candle Works. The mill was working c1870, but the Black Sea was drained and filled in in 1884. The mill then lost its purpose and ceased work, with the 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:...

 and 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...

 being removed.

Description

Wandsworth Common Windmill is a small hexagonal smock mill built on a low brick base. It had a small cap and was powered by four Patent sails. The cap was winded by a fantail. The smock stands today, with a reconstructed cap, replacing the pyramidal roof it bore in the 1960s.

External links

• Windmill World - Wandsworth Common mill