Burnham Overy Staithe Windmill is a Grade II*

listed building 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 ...

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 ...

at Burnham Overy Staithe,

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

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 ...

which has been converted to holiday accommodation.

History

Burnham Overy Staithe Mill was built in 1816 for Edmund Savory, a miller who was running 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 ...

on the River Burn known as the Lower Mill. Savory worked the mill until his death on 9 February 1827, when it passed to his son John. John Savory worked the mill until his death on 27 September 1863, and the mill passed to his son, also named John. In 1869, a law was passed that all trade

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

s should be licensed. John Savory was convicted in 1870 and fined £5 for having one more horse than he held a licence for. He was again convicted in 1873 and fined £5 for the same offence. The mill was offered for sale by

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

on 23 June 1888 at the Norfolk Hotel,

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

. The premises comprising a steam mill powered by a steam engine driving four pairs of millstones, the watermill driving three pairs of millstones and the windmill, also driving three pairs of millstones. As well as the mills there was a 25-coomb

maltings A malt house, malt barn, or maltings, is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing beer, whisky and in certain food ...

granaries A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals ...

and various other farm buildings, together with over of land. The lot was unsold, and Savory worked the mill until 1900 when it was sold to Sidney Dewing. In 1910, the mill was sold to Sidney Everett, a maltster of

Wells-next-the-Sea Wells-next-the-Sea is a port town on the north coast of Norfolk, England. The civil parish has an area of and in 2001 had a population of 2,451,Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Census population and household c ...

. In 1914, the mill was tailwinded. It was last worked in 1919. In 1926, the mill was sold to Hugh Hughes, an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

from

Grantchester Grantchester is a village and civil parish on the River Cam or Granta in South Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about south of Cambridge. Name The village of Grantchester is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as ''Grantesete'' and ''Graunts ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

. Hughes had the mill, which had been stripped of machinery by this time, converted to holiday accommodation. In 1957, restoration work was carried out by Thompson's, millwrights of Alford, Lincolnshire. A new cap with a gallery, stocks and sails were fitted and the stage was replaced. The mill was given to the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

in 1958. In December 1978, the National Trust published plans to restore the mill to working order. This would have involved making the cap able to turn into wind, and the provision of new internal machinery and the conversion of associated building to a shop, along with the provision of car parking facilities. There was opposition from local people, although West Norfolk District Council were in favour of the plans. They were directed by

Norfolk County Council Norfolk County Council is the top-tier local government authority for Norfolk, England. Its headquarters are based in the city of Norwich. Below it there are 7 second-tier local government district councils: Breckland District, Broadland Distr ...

to refuse the application due to the inadequate highway in the locality which did not have the capacity to cope with large numbers of visitors. The mill was renovated internally to meet fire safety regulations in 1981. The sails and stocks were removed in 1983 for replacement. Two new long stocks of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n Pitch pine were fitted on 17 July 1985, and four new sails the following day. The new stocks and sails cost £26,500.

Description

Burnham Overy Staithe Mill is a six-storey

with an ogee cap with gallery. The cap is winded by a ''fantail'' and the four ''Double Patent sails'' of 12 bays are carried on a cast-iron ''windshaft''. The windshaft also carries a wooden clasp arm ''brake wheel''. It drove three pairs of millstones.

Millers

*Edmund Savory 1816–27 *John Savory 1827–63 *John Savory, Jr 1863–1900 *Sidney Dewing 1900–10 *Sidney Everitt 1910–21

Public access

Burnham Overy Staithe Mill is available as a holiday let on a self-catering basis.

In popular culture

The silo in the 2014 ''anime'' film ''

When Marnie Was There is a 2014 Japanese animated psychological drama film co-written and directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, produced by Studio Ghibli and distributed by Toho. It is based on Joan G. Robinson's 1967 novel of the same name. The film follows Anna Sas ...

'' is based on the Burnham Overy Staithe Windmill.

References

{{Windmills and Windpumps of East Anglia Windmills in Norfolk Grade II* listed buildings in Norfolk National Trust properties in Norfolk Tower mills in the United Kingdom Grinding mills in the United Kingdom Windmills completed in 1816 North Norfolk Grade II* listed windmills 1816 establishments in England