Finchingfield
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Fryerning |
Great Bardfield
Great Dunmow
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Stansted Mountfitchet
Stock
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Tolleshunt (Tiptree)
Toppesfield
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Upminster
White Roding
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Rayleigh
Orsett
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Ashdon
Aythorpe Roding
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Bocking
Debden
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Ramsey
Mountnessing
|
Terling
Thaxted
|
Clavering
Interested in mills? Join the Essex Mills Group
FINCHINGFIELD, DUCK END POST
MILL
 Open
to the Public
The building dates from about 1756 and stands on a mound
20ft above a nearby road.
The trestle was open to the weather until 1840, when a
roundhouse was built.
The mill finished working in the 1890s and was later robbed
of its stones, leaving a large hole in the first floor
of the body. It
was restored after 60 years as a visual amenity, having
a dummy set of sails and a damaged iron windshaft,
A little later, the county millwright began a difficult
restoration job, making a new 9ft-diameter brakewheel,
new sails and a windshaft fashioned from an oak tree specially
felled in Norfolk.
NGR: TL687330 Situated 8.5 miles from Haverhill, 10 miles
from Great Dunmow on the B1057 where the B1053 crosses.
For more information regarding opening arrangements, contact
the county mills visit supervisor.
FRYERNING, MILL GREEN POST MILL
Privately Owned
This old post mill, built in 1759 and worked until 1900, fell in to disrepair until renovation work began in 1959.
In 1989, it was again undergoing major repair. It now carries four sails, without shutters, and has a tailpole and a roundhouse.
The two pairs of stones are still in position, as is some of the machinery, including hoppers and grain shoots, but much is missing.
NGR: TL639007 To visit, leave the A12 at either B1002 turn-off for Ingatestone. Take the road to Fryerning. The mill will be seen among trees and houses. It is a private property on private ground.
GREAT BARDFIELD `GIBRALTAR` TOWER MILL
Privately Owned
This fine tower mill is probably the oldest (c.1660) in Essex.
The tower itself has a very steep batter and is unusual in that, although having an octagonal base with chamfered corners, it becomes 16 sided half way up and is round at the top.
It may have started life as a smock mill, the upper wooden part then being replaced by bricks.
It was later converted into a house, but by 1751 it reverted to a working mill until 1930.
Subsequently, it became derelict until a second house conversion in 1957-58, when the tower was rendered.
Surmounted by a boat shaped cap, the mill originally had four double shuttered sails with canvas shutters.
The sails were lost in the great storm of 1987 and replaced by a non working set.
A fantail was added in 1902; previously the mill had been winded by hand from a small platform under the tail of the cap.
The windshaft, brakewheel and brake are still in position, and the great spur wheel is preserved on the ground floor with other mementos of its working days.
The steps up to the mill are made from old mill stones, and some pieces of machinery are set in the garden wall.
NGR: TL680307 Situated between the B1057 and the B1053 on a minor road from Great Bardfield, 4 miles east of Thaxted.
GREAT DUNMOW TOWER MILL
Privately Owned
Built in 1822, this five floored brick tower mill stopped work in 1894.
It became a private residence in 1907, the mill tower being joined to the old mill house. An aluminium cap and fan stage were fitted in 1974, and no sails or machinery remain.
NGR: TL634226 Positioned on high ground at Churchend to the east of Dunmow. It is close to St. Edmund's Lane, which joins the B1057 and A120.
STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET TOWER MILL
Open to the Public
The mill was built by Joseph Linsell in 1787 with a malt house, which was burnt down in 1877, and a mill house, which is now a Roman Catholic church.
In 1966 and again in 1994, much restoration work was done, and the building is now maintained by the Stansted Millers, a local volunteer group.
NGR: TL510248 Situated on the east of the A11 to the south of Stansted. The road to the mill can quite easily be missed, and parking is very limited. Parking at Mountfitchet Castle (well signposted) is thus recommended; a footpath leads to the mill, which is open on the first Sunday of each month. A small fee is charged, and an illustrated guide is available.
STOCK TOWER MILL
Open to the Public
The only survivor of three mills on Stock Common, the existing tower mill was built about 1816 next to a post mill that had been there since 1795.
In 1845, another post mill was brought to the site. The two post mills were demolished over 100 years ago, and the tower mill is now hemmed in by trees and bungalows.
For the first part of its life, it carried cloth sails, which were set and manually winded from a stage surrounding the tower at first floor level.
Later, a fantail was fitted together with patent shuttered sails that could be adjusted without stopping the mechanism. In 1890, alterations were made to enable an extra pair of stones to be driven.
This necessitated relocating the stones one floor lower than before. By 1902, the mill had been altered again so that steam power could drive the stones in calm weather The mill has now been restored to working order.
NGR TQ 698988 Stock is on the B1007 Chelmsford - Billericay road, 5 miles from Chelmsford and 3 miles from Billericay. The building is in Mill Lane, about 130yd from the junction with Mill Road and ½ mile east of the B1007. The mill is open on the second Sunday of each month.
TOLLESHUNT KNIGHTS (TIPTREE) TOWER MILL
Privately Owned
Known as Messing Maypole mill, this attractively named mill, built to extremely high standards in 1775 and modernised in the late 19th century, once stood on open common with a post mill but is now surrounded by a modern housing estates.
The mill stopped work in 1920 and was converted into a house in the 1960s; there are no sails.
NGR TL894166 Situated in Tiptree just south of the crossing of the B1022 Colchester - Maldon and B1023 Kelvedon - Tollesbury roads.
TOPPESFIELD (GAINSFORD END) TOWER MILL
Privately Owned
Now derelict, the mill was built in 1896 and last worked in the 1920s. Although some machinery remains, there are serious cracks in its brickwork, and the floors are rotten, The building is in a dangerous condition.
NGR TL726350 Located behind Houghtons Farm to the east of a minor road from Toppesfield to Finchingfield.
UPMINSTER SMOCK MILL
Open to the Public
Dating from c1803, when London's burgeoning population was creating a greater demand for flour, this mill was planned on an ambitious scale and started life with three pairs of stones, later increased to four; its associated steam mill, built in 1811, had two more pairs.
The mills probably last worked some time between 1930 and 1934, when they were sold, and the four double-shuttered sails have not since turned the still-existing machinery; the steam mill was dismantled in the 1960s.
A 7ft-high working model of the mill is displayed on the top floor of Romford Central Library.
NGR TQ557868 Situated in Upminster on the A124, about 250yds west of the cross-roads where the A124 becomes the B127. Open on the third weekend of each month, April - September, 2 - 5.30p.m., admission free.
WHITE RODING TOWER MILL
Privately Owned
The last corn mill to be built in Essex, it was erected on the site of an old post mill blown down in 1877.
The large white brick tower mill is surmounted by a recently restored dome cap with ball and finial and once had four double- shuttered patent sails, which have long since been removed.
The millers lease expired in March 1931 and was not renewed. Now privately owned, it was fitted with its new aluminium-covered cap and wooden fan stage in 1970.
NGR TL564131 Situated on the eastern side of a minor road leading south from the A1060 Chelmsford - Bishops Stortford road, about 2 miles west of Leaden Roding.
RAYLEIGH TOWER MILL
Open to the Public
Built in 1809 this is the tallest remaining mill in the county.
Its cap, an impressive 60ft. from ground level, shares the skyline with the church, towering above the mound of Rayleigh Castle and the modern building development.
When it was wind-powered, the mill had three pairs of stones driven by two spring sails and two cloth covered `commons`.
Milling by wind seems to have stopped by the mills centenary, being replaced by more reliable sources of power: first oil and then, in 1974, a replacement cap and non-working sails were fitted ; more recently, a stage designed by the county millwright has been added. Though lacking machinery, the mill's appearance is now very similar to that of its
working days.
NGR TQ 807910 Situated just of the A129 near the castle mound, parish church and Rayleigh BR Station. The base of the mill, housing a small museum, is open to the public on Saturdays 10.00am-12.30pm.
ORSETT SMOCK MILL
Privately owned
The 18th-century mill in Baker Street last worked in 1917. It was derelict for many years but refused to collapse and is now being partially restored by its present owner. The adjoining steam mill forms part of a house conversion.
NGR TQ 633813 Situated just north of the A13 London - Southend road, to the west of Orsett.
ASHDON POST MILL
Privately Owned
A small, old (c.1757) post mill with a low brick roundhouse, it was last worked in 1910 and had two pairs of stones.
It started life as an open trestle mill and was jacked up around 1830-40, when it was placed on brick piers and the roundhouse was built to protect the mainpost and crosstrees from the weather. A grant from Essex County Council enabled it to be renovated in 1974; four new sails were fitted, and the weatherboarding was renewed. In 1996, the sails were missing and the mill is falling into disrepair.
NGR TL595426 Situated off a minor road between the B1053 and A604. To visit, take the Ashdon road out of Saffron Walden, go through the village and leave by the Castle Camps road. The mill will be seen on the hill across the fields on the right hand side. The mill and the road leading to it are under private ownership.
AYTHORPE RODING POST MILL
Open to the Public
On an ancient site that was in use before 1615, the largest remaining post mill in Essex was saved from demolition in 1860, when it was already about 80 years old, and carried on working until 1936.
In later years, it had an auxiliary steam engine to assist on calm days.
Vincent Pargetter, the Essex County Millwright, acquired the mill about 1980 and worked on it to make it the first restored mill in the County to grind by wind power.
NGR TL 590152 Aythorpe Roding is 5 miles south of Great Dunmow on the B184. The privately owned mill, on a long term lease to Essex C.C., can be visited on the last Sunday of each month, April - September, and on National Mills Day, usually the second Sunday in May. Admission is free but donations are invited. Conducted group visits, for which a charge is made, can be arranged at any reasonable time. Vehicles must not be taken to the mill, there is a large lay-by near the site.
BOCKING POST MILL
Open to the Public
This mill (c.1721) is one of the many that have been moved, in this case over a distance of about 170yds eastwards.
Members of the Tabor family owned it from the 18th century to 1929. Miss Tabor, a descendant living in an adjacent house thinks that the mill was shifted because it became shielded from the wind by cottages built in the early 1800s.
The move, in about 1830, allowed the mill to be modernised when it was reconstructed, including the provision of two pairs of stones in the head. In 1898, a pair of steam driven stones was installed in the roundhouse to enable milling to continue on calm days.
For milling by wind, power was supplied by two shuttered spring sails and two cloth covered `commons`.
In 1964, a society known as the Friends of Bocking Windmill was formed to promote the mill and its well-being. Although restoration work has been carried out over the years, the sails cannot be turned or the body moved into the wind.
NGR TL 763260 Situated just off Church Street, Bocking, about 3/4mile west of the A131 Braintree - Halstead road and about 2miles north of Braintree town centre. For visits, contact the Mills Visit Supervisor at Chelmsford C.C. offices.
DEBDEN TOWER MILL
Privately Owned
Little of this mill, said to stand on the highest spot in Essex, can be seen from the road. It was built in 1796 and stopped work in 1911.
Since1957, it has been a private residence. This mill now has no sails or fantail and is capped with a large aluminium dome. It has a basement with three floors above.
A stone over the door is dated 1796, and on four sides of the mill inset stones bear the arms and devices of the Chiswell family, on whose land the mill once stood.
NGR TL 555336 Situated on the east side of a minor road from Thaxted to Saffron Walden, north of Debden
RAMSEY POST MILL
Privately Owned
An important landscape feature, the most easterly mill in Essex has a three storey roundhouse and small body; it possesses, unusually, a roof fantail.
Moved to this site from Woodbridge, Suffolk, in 1842, reputedly by boat, this tall and imposing mill was saved from collapse and partly restored in the late 1970s by amateur millwright C.Hulcoop, working with its owner, the late Michael Organ. Until Mr Organ's death, this fine mill was open to the public, but under new ownership (1990). The mill was used for the 1960s ITV television series Wreckers of Dead Eye.
NGR TM 209304 Situated about 350yards north of the A604 Colchester - Harwich road to the west of the village.
MOUNTNESSING POST MILL
Open to the Public
 Built
in 1807 and standing on the site of one built about 1477,
this mill is unusual in that the roundhouse has sixteen
sides and used to be thatched. It was worked by a family
named Agnis until 1933, when Mountnessing Parish Council
took over, restoring it in 1937.
It
was later bought by Essex C.C. for the sum of one shilling
(5p). The county millwright has repaired or replaced many
parts, and the mill is now in working order; flour actually
ground here can be purchased.
NGR TQ 631980 Located in a prominent position north of
the A12 on the B1002 4 miles from Brentwood and 8 miles
from Chelmsford. There is a large car park, and the mill
is open 0n the third Sunday of each month, April - October.
TERLING SMOCK MILL
Privately Owned - by Leroy of Essex band Prodigy
This was the scene of a tragedy that ended commercial windmilling
in Essex when in 1950, Herbert Bonner was crushed to death
in the machinery after operating it safely for 50 years.
One of only two smock mills within the present county boundaries,
it was possibly moved here in 1818. Although black in its
early days, it is now a white-painted annexe to a house
and without sails.
NGR TL 764150 Situated on a minor road about 1/2 mile west
of Terling village and about 2 miles north of the A12 trunk
road near Hatfield Peverel. It is best approached from the
south via Flacks Green to avoid a long deep ford
THAXTED TOWER MILL
Open to the Public
John Webb's mill built in 1804, when the population explosion
of London created a new market for mill products, and Webb
- farmer, landowner and innkeeper - exploited this commercial
opportunity.
His sturdily-proportioned mill, the walls being 4ft thick
at the base and reducing to 18 inches at bin floor level,
used bricks from his own brick and tile works nearby.
Business flourished for some years under John Webb, and
later his son, until, towards the end of the 19th century,
it became uneconomic.
By 1904, the mill was disused, and its sails were chained
up. The main machinery is still intact, some of it having
been restored, and the cap turns to the wind.
NGR TL 609308 Situated southwest of the B184 Great Dunmow
- Saffron Walden road near Thaxted church. The mill is open
on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays, 1 May - 30 September
2.00-6.00p.m.
CLAVERING TOWER MILLS
Privately Owned
These two mills now have aluminium caps and no sails. The
larger of the two was built in 1811 and had three pairs
of stones, whilst the other one to the south was built in
1757.
NGR TL465326 The South Mill is located at a road junction
at Stickling Green on the Clavering Langley Road. The North
Mill is about 200 yards along the other road.
Interested in mills, wind or
water?
Join the Essex Mills Group for a quarterly newsletter and
visits to mills in and out of the county. Annual subscription
is £6 and payable to the membership secretary R. Starling,
Clovelly, 10 School Lane, Manningtree, Essex. CO11 2HZ.
Information supplied by Dave Price. Picture shows Aythorpe
Roding windmill. |
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