Grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
, house converted
tower mill
A tower mill is a type of vertical windmill consisting of a brick or stone tower, on which sits a wooden 'cap' or roof, which can rotate to bring the sails into the wind.Medieval science, technology, and medicine: an encyclopedia (2005), 520
Thi ...
west of
Bidborough
Bidborough is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells and south of Tonbridge. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 958, increasing to 1,163 at the 2011 Census.
...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It is now incorporated into a housing development called Mill Court, on the south side of the B2176 Penshurst Road.
History
''Bidborough Mill'' may be an eighteenth-century tower mill, or an 1858 replacement for an earlier mill. Parish records from 1759, 1763 and 1765 mention the purchase of
flour
Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...
for the relief of the poor. A mill was marked on Andrews, Drury and Herbert's map of 1769. The date of the building of Bidborough Mill is unknown for certain (see above). In the 1890s, the mill was being worked in conjunction with a
watermill
A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...
at
Speldhurst
Speldhurst is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. The parish is to the west of Tunbridge Wells: the village is west of the town.
Speldhurst has a primary school, a parish church, a general store with p ...
. The mill had four patent sails.Postcard published by W E Nash, Bidborough, titled "The Mill, Bidborough, Kent", ref number 38. Printer H Camburn, Tunbridge Wells. The mill was struck by lightning c.1900 and lost two sails. This was the end of the mill's working life and the other two sails were removed a few years later. There was a proposal to erect an iron
windpump
A windpump is a type of windmill which is used for pumping water.
Windpumps were used to pump water since at least the 9th century in what is now Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. The use of wind pumps became widespread across the Muslim world an ...
on the mill in the 1930s but this was not carried out. In 1942, the cap roof and windshaft were blown off the mill. A replacement cap was made in 1949, but later replaced with a flat roof. The mill was house converted in 2006 and a replica cap was made and fitted on 1 May 2006.
Description
Bidborough Mill is a four-storey brick tower mill, partly rendered with cement. It had a Kentish-style cap, four single
patent sails
Windmills are powered by their sails. Sails are found in different designs, from primitive common sails to the advanced patent sails.
Jib sails
The jib sail is found in Mediterranean countries and consists of a simple triangle of cloth wound rou ...
and was winded by a
fantail
Fantails are small insectivorous songbirds of the genus ''Rhipidura'' in the family Rhipiduridae, native to Australasia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Most of the species are about long, specialist aerial feeders, and named as "f ...
. The
millstone
Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, for grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones.
Millstones come in pairs: a convex stationary base known as the ''bedstone'' and ...
s were driven underdrift. A large pulley on the outside of the mill at first-floor level allowed the mill to be driven by belt from a
traction engine
A traction engine is a steam engine, steam-powered tractor used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin ''tractus'', meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any t ...
or
tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...
, via a gear bolted to the underside of the Great Spur Wheel. A wheat cleaner and a flour dresser remained in the mill before conversion.
Millers
*William Weaver 1759 - 1765
*Nicholas Arnold 1839 - 1845
*T Arnold 1851 - 1867
*William Reeves 1870
*G W Young 1874
*George Wood 1878
*Albert Oliver 1890 - 1891
*Oliver & Morris 1895
*Joseph Tabraham 1899
References for above.