Post mill at Windmill Hill

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1008820
Date first listed:: 06-Sep-1994

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Location

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1008820
Date first listed:: 06-Sep-1994

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Leicestershire
District:: Melton (District Authority)
Parish:: Croxton Kerrial
National Grid Reference:: SK 82086 27946

Reasons for Designation

Post mills were the form of windmills in the medieval period in which the wooden superstructure rotated about a central vertical post. The central post was mounted on cross timbers which were stabilised by being set into a mound. This mound might be newly built but earlier mounds were also frequently re- used. The whole superstructure of such a mill was rotated to face into the wind by pushing a horizontal pole projecting from the mill on the opposite side from the sails. The end of this pole was supported by a wheel and rotation eventually resulted in a shallow ditch surrounding the mill mound. Post mills were in use from the 12th century onwards. No medieval examples of the wooden superstructures survive today but the mounds, typically between 15m and 25m in diameter, survive as field monuments. In general, only those mounds which are components of larger sites or which are likely to preserve organic remains will be considered worthy of protection through scheduling. However, some mills reused earlier mounds, such as castle mottes and barrows, which are worthy of protection in their own right.

The mound of the post mill at Croxton Kerrial survives well and is thought likely to have utilised a well preserved Bronze Age burial mound.

Details

The monument at Windmill Hill is located on the brow of a hill overlooking Croxton Park and includes the mound of a post mill. The mound is flat topped, measures 25m in diameter and is up to 2.5m in height. Although there is no indication of a surrounding ditch, it is thought that one exists as a below ground feature. The name of the hill indicates the site of a post mill and the mound has been shown to be situated within medieval ridge and furrow ploughing.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: 17108
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Hartley, R F, The Medieval Earthworks of North-West Leicestershire, (1987), 8,26

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.