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Kent County Council is responsible for eight windmills and
is actively involved in their preservation and the promotion of
their use for education and tourism.
Further details about the windmills, their history and how to
find them can be found under the individual descriptions below.
Herne Mill
Herne Mill is an early type of smock mill built in 1789 to
replace a 16th century post mill which had stood on the same site,
overlooking Herne village. It is a Grade I listed property and is
looked after by the Friends of Herne Mill.
In 1856, the wooden structure was raised and two storeys of
brickwork constructed underneath so that the mill could take
greater advantage of the prevailing south-west winds.
It has recently been extensively renovated including the sweeps and
stocks, (sails are called "sweeps" in Sussex and Kent) which had to
be removed in 1996. The windmill finished working as a mill in 1980
and was taken over by Kent County Council in 1985.
Location: Off Mill Lane, Herne. From the A291
(Herne Bay to Canterbury), turn into School Lane on reaching Herne
Village. The windmill is signposted from the bottom of Mill Lane
travelling east after taking the slip road to Herne, from the
junction with the A291 travelling east and west and from the A291
if coming from the south.
Drapers Mill
Drapers is a smock windmill with tarred weatherboarding on an
octagonal brick base. The mill was constructed in 1845 by the
Canterbury millwright John Holman, on the site of earlier
mills.
Drapers Mill is a Grade II listed property and is looked after
by the Drapers Windmill Trust. It was worked by wind until 1916 and
powered by a gas engine until 1933.
The mill was in a dilapidated condition when acquired by Kent
County Council in 1968 and a programme of restoration was then
carried out under the Drapers Windmill Trust. Drapers mill is
complete externally and working, but further repair works are now
essential.
The location of Drapers Mill was once completely rural but it is
now part of Margate. However, open land still exists to the south
(a school site) and to the north (a field owned by the council).
Nearby, an Anglo-Saxon cemetery and some Roman remains have been
recorded.
Location: To the east of Margate centre, in St
Peter's Footpath off College Road.
Chillenden Mill
Chillenden is a post mill built in 1868 and retains its open
trestle. As normal in Kent, it was never fitted with a fantail and
would have been turned manually with its long tail pole. This is
one of only four Kentish post mills and was the last to be built to
this design.
It replaced a former post mill on a site where there had been
mills for 500 years. The mill remained in use until 1949 when one
sweep broke in a gale. In 1955 local residents raised enough money
to make the mill weatherproof but could not afford a full
repair.
The mill remained in private hands until 1958, when Kent County
Council acquired it. Unfortunately the barn and milling furniture
were removed at the same time.
The mill stands in an exposed position amongst fields and lanes
and forms a distinctive local landmark. It is a Grade II listed
building and is looked after by the Chillenden Mill Group.
Location: In fields north west of Chillenden village and 4 Km
south-west of Sandwich.
West Kingsdown
West Kingsdown has an an octagonal tarred weatherboarded smock
on a square base, a seven bladed fantail and once had two common
and two patent sweeps. It is a Grade II listed building and is
looked after by Mr and Mrs M Heaton, on whose land it is
situated.
The mill was built nearby in 1800 but was moved in 1880 to its
current site by its then owner, Tanner Norton. The Norton family
ran the mill in conjunction with a post mill nearby (burnt down in
1909). It was acquired by Kent County Council in 1959.
The mill is located within the farmyard of Mill House on the
outskirts of West Kingsdown village - it is a significant village
landmark and a prominent feature in the landscape, clearly visible
from the M20 motorway.
Location: Off the A20 on the western edge of
West Kingsdown village between Wrotham and Farningham.
Meopham Mill
This smock mill was built as a 'model' mill to demonstrate
milling and was consequently very well constructed. The machinery
is complete, though due to long term deterioration is not in
satisfactory working order. It is a Grade II listed building and is
looked after by the Meopham Mill Trust.
It was built in 1821 by the Killick brothers, a well known
Kentish milling family and is the last in a line of mills serving
Meopham. John Norton and his nephew took over the mill from Thomas
Killick in 1889 and in 1959 the Nortons transferred the mill to
Kent County Council.
The mill is situated within the Green Conservation area in the
centre of Meopham and forms a highly distinctive feature in the
village.
Location: At Meopham Green on the A227.
Union Mill, Cranbrook
Union Mill is a white weatherboarded smock mill, and is said to
be the finest example in England.
It is the tallest mill in Kent and the tallest smock mill in the
country at 70ft and comprises seven storeys, including a brick base
three storeys in height. It is a Grade I listed building and is
looked after by the Cranbrook Windmill Association.
The mill was constructed in 1814 for Henry Dobell and is the
only surviving mill in the county built by Humphrey the millwright.
After Dobell went bankrupt in 1819, the mill was taken over by his
creditors and became known as the Union Mill.
In 1832 the mill was bought by George and Henry Russell and it
stayed in the Russell family until 1957. Following a successful
fund-raising appeal by the Society for the Protection of Ancient
Buildings, the mill was acquired by Kent County Council in
1961.
The mill has been restored to full working order and it can now
grind flour by wind power.
The windmill is in a prominent position in the attractive
Wealden town of Cranbrook and provides both a local landmark and a
visitor attraction to the town. The mill is also in the Cranbrook
Conservation Area.
Location: To the south east of the centre of
Cranbrook on the hill.
Stelling Minnis
This is a small smock mill of a size once common in Kent. It has
an octagonal tower clad in tarred weatherboarding with a
rectangular cap. The base is only a few courses of bricks in height
and as a result this mill is only 43ft high.
It is a Grade I listed building and is managed and opened to the
public by the parish council and the Kent Mills Group.
The mill was built on the site of an earlier post mill in 1866
by T.R. Holman (a well known local millwright) for George
Goble.
On the owner's death in 1878, the mill was acquired by Henry
Davison and it stayed in his family for 92 years, becoming known as
Davison's mill. Kent County Council took over the mill on Alec
Davison's death in 1970.
The mill, which stands in a rural location on the outskirts of
Stelling Minnis village, was fully restored in the 1970s by the
millwrights Pargeter and Lennard with repairs to the cap,
weatherboarding and two new sweeps.
Today the mill is virtually as it was when it was built and is
capable of working with two pairs of millstones.
Trees around the site currently prevent the sweeps turning with
wind power but the mill machinery can be operated using its
original engine. The Kent Mills Group have been responsible for
restoring and maintaining the machinery.
Location: In Mill Lane, Stelling Minnis off the
B2068 Canterbury to Hythe Road.
Stocks Mill, Wittersham
Stocks Mill is a post mill with a roundhouse of tarred brick
under a sloping wooden felted roof. It is a Grade II listed
building and is looked after by the Friends of Stocks Mill.
It is the tallest of the county's remaining post mills. It was
named Stocks Mill after the village stocks that stood nearby.
No machinery remains although there are some interesting
features, such as the fine post and trestles, a well-preserved
roundhouse (with a display of mill exhibits) and four
spring-shuttered sweeps - a rare arrangement in Kent.
The centre post of the mill has the date 1781 and the initials
RV carved on it - this is either the date of the mill's
construction or the date it was moved to Wittersham.
The mill operated for 120 years up to the beginning of this
century. In 1980, the mill was transferred to Kent County Council
and a local 'Friends of Stocks Mill' group established to help
preserve the mill and open it to the public.
The mill is at Wittersham on the Isle of Oxney, surrounded by
the private gardens of Stocks Mill House, the original Grade II
listed 16th century mill house.
Location: On the B2082 between Tenterden and
Rye and to the east of Wittersham. |