Post mill mound 150m north west of Brynards Hill Farm

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 monument survives well and is a good example of this class of monument. Partial excavation has shown that it contains archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument includes a medieval post mill mound, located on the top of Brynards Hill, overlooking the low lying Kimmeridge clay farmland between Wootton Bassett and the chalk escarpment to the south. The postmill mound is now used as a roundabout and surrounded by a modern housing development. It survives as a circular mound about 0.6m high and has a diameter of 21m. The monument was subject to partial excavation in 1891 and found to contain potsherds, fragments of iron and charcoal.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

31641

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry

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