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 remains of the medieval windmill site at The Mount survive in very good
condition. The mound, ditch, ramp and outer bank all survive as substantial
earthworks little altered by later activity. Buried archaeological deposits,
including evidence for the construction and use of the windmill, are believed
to survive intact. Partial infilling of the ditch will have resulted in the
preservation of organic remains such as timber and cloth, and environmental
material such as pollen and seeds will provide information about the landscape
in which the earthworks were set. In addition, the early ground surface
preserved beneath both the mound and the outer bank will provide evidence for
previous land use on the site, and for the date and origin of the mound.
Details
The monument includes The Mount, a medieval windmill mound 670m south of
Bleasby Grange. It is thought to represent the site of Bleasby Mill which is
referred to in documentary sources of the mid-13th century, however, it was
already in existence in the 12th century when the adjacent road layout was
established, and this may indicate the reuse of an earlier feature such as a
burial mound.
The Mount lies on the former boundary between the medieval townships of
Bleasby and Collow, at the corner of a field called Mill Hill. The mound
itself, on which the windmill would have been erected, is circular in plan and
rounded in profile, measuring about 20m in diameter and up to 2.4m high. Near
the centre of the mound is a shallow pit about 1.5m in diameter, now largely
infilled, which was used as a rubbish pit in the 19th century. This pit may
mark the former position of the wooden post on which the windmill was
supported. Buried remains of the windmill structure are expected to be
preserved within the mound.
The mound is surrounded by a dry ditch, up to 5m wide, from which material
used in the construction of the mound was excavated. Now between 0.5m and 1m
in depth, it is crossed on the south side by a causeway which extends further
southwards as a ramp, which would have provided vehicular access to the
windmill. The ditch is in turn surrounded by an outer bank, also about 5m
wide, which stands to a height of about 0.3m.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
