Post mill at Church Hills

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 reused. 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 post mill at Church Hills survives well and is a good example of this class of monument. It will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument includes a post mill mound located approximately 1km to the south of Midgehall Farm. The monument is situated near the top of a south facing slope on the north side of Wootton Bassett, affording views of the clay plain and chalk escarpment to the south. The monument lies at the corner of two field boundaries in a field known as Church Hills. The mound is circular and well defined, 29m in diameter and 1.5m high. It is surrounded by a ditch 2m wide and 0.3m deep representing the track of the mill wheel, giving an overall diameter of 33m. On the top of the mound there is a central depression 0.5m deep and 7m in diameter.

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:

29000

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry

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