The Windmill

Details

HERSTMONCEUX WINDMILL HILL TQ 6412

37/389 Windmill Hill Windmill

13.10.52 II

The entry shall be amended to read;

TQ 6412 HERSTMONCEUX WINDMILL LANE (north side) Windmill Hill 37/389 The Windmill 13.10.52 II* (star)

Post type windmill. Built c1814 by the Lewes mill-wright, Medhurst. It is the largest postmill in the country as regards body size, with a basic floor area of 21' 3"x 12' 3" plus 1' 6" projection on the windward face, at 48ft the tallest windmill in Sussex and the last remaining mill in England to possess the remains of a centrifugal governor system for controlling the sail area, though at the time of inspection this had been removed for safekeeping elsewhere. It comprises a 2 storey tarred Flemish bond brickwork roundhouse with sash windows and a 3 storey timber-framed body with ogee head clad in weatherbording and further clad in sheet iron on the weather sides. Most of the ladder and part of the tailpiece survives but the sails are missing. The roundhouse contains on the ground floor the bases of 4 brick piers supporting the main post and trestle on the first floor and a heavily joisted ceiling. The first floor has the crosstrees, quarterbars and main post carved with the date 1856 and bins for steam driven stones built on the quarterbars. The body bottom floor has the upper part of the main post supporting the crowntreee, an oscillating sieve grader and the bottom of the wire cylinder flour dresser, a wire cylinder grain cleaner and extractor fan, the complete tentering gear and governor to tail millstones, part of the tentering gear to the head stones, part of the meal bins and the horse to the millstone tun. The body first floor has the cast iron windshaft carrying the brake wheel and tailwheel, the tail millstones (bedstones in place, runner stone resting on crowntree), driving quants and bevel pinions to both sets of stones, wire cylinder flour dressing machine and driving gears fairly complete and transverse shaft with pinion and pulley for driving the flour dresser from the brake wheel. The body second floor contains the top of the brake wheel with pinion and pulley to drive the sack hoist, the sack hoist bollard and pulley, various bins to feed the millstones and flour dresser and part of the centrifugal governor system for sail regulation. This mill never had a tailpole but was turned to the wind by pushing the body round manually using the tailpole. It ceased turning in 1893 when steam-driven stones were set up in the roundhouse.

------------------------------------

HERSTMONCEUX WINDMILL HILL 1. 5208 Windmill Hill Windmill TQ 6412 37/389 13.10.52

II

2. Post type. Probably late C18. Built by the Lewes mill-wright, Medhurst, and said to have been the largest post mill in Sussex. Two storeyed roundhouse of tarred brick. The mill itself is covered with sheets of metal, now very rusty. Sweeps and fantail missing. Machinery said to be intact.

Listing NGR: TQ6470612154

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

295374

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.