Chillenden windmill is a

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 ...

open-trestle post mill north of

Chillenden Chillenden is a village in east Kent, England, between Canterbury and Deal, and is in the civil parish of Goodnestone. In the ''Domesday Book'' of 1086, Chillenden was recorded as 'Cilledene'. The parish in 1800 was made up of , containing three ...

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. It is the last post mill built in Kent.

History

Chillenden windmill was built by Holman's of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

in 1868, replacing an earlier post mill that had blown down. The new mill incorporated some material from the old one. A windmill was marked on Philip Symonson's map of 1596, John Speed's map of 1611, Robert Morden's map of 1695, Emanuel Bowen's map of 1736, Andrews, Drury and Herbert's map of 1769 and all

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maps from 1819. Holman's, the Canterbury

millwright A millwright is a craftsperson or skilled tradesperson who installs, dismantles, maintains, repairs, reassembles, and moves machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites. The term ''millwright'' (also known as ''industrial mecha ...

s, fitted a new stock and two new sails in 1927, and the mill was working until 1949, when it lost a sail in a gale. Local people raised some money in 1955 to make the mill weatherproof, and on 12 December 1957 the mill was bought for £100, by

Kent County Council Kent County Council is a county council that governs most of the county of Kent in England. It is the upper tier of elected local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council h ...

and restored at a cost of £728 although some machinery was removed.

Collapse and rebuilding

Chillenden windmill collapsed on 26 November 2003. The collapse was attributed to the fact that one of the four piers on which the mill stood had sunk into the ground over time, and the mill's being in a fixed position, not facing directly into the prevailing wind at the time. The mill wreckage was carefully dismantled on 15 December 2003 and put into storage while a decision was made on the future of the building. There were rumours that the mill would be rebuilt at the

Museum of Kent Life Kent Life (formerly the Museum of Kent Life) is an English open-air museum located at Sandling, Maidstone, Sandling, next to Allington, Kent, Allington Locks, on the east bank of the River Medway. History Sir Garrard Tyrwhitt-Drake bequeathed t ...

, but on 31 March 2004 Kent County Council announced that the mill was to be rebuilt on site. The restoration work was carried out by IJP Millwrights, of

Binfield Heath Binfield Heath is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England, south-southwest of Henley-on-Thames and northeast of Reading on a southern knoll of the Chiltern Hills. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 709. The vil ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. The work included new crosstrees and quarterbars, a new windshaft, both breast and tail of the mill rebuilt and new weatherboarding all over. Four new sails were made, replacing those on the mill at the time of its collapse. These had been fitted in 2001. By early May 2005, work had commenced on site re-erecting the frame of the mill. The reconstructed frame of the mill was erected on the new trestle on 25 May 2005. The mill reopened to visitors on 13 September 2005.

Description

Chillenden windmill is a white open-trestle post mill with four spring sails carried on a cast-iron windshaft. The windshaft carries a cast-iron brake wheel with a wooden rim. The brake wheel has fifty wooden cogs, driving a cast-iron wallower on a cast-iron upright shaft. This carries a cast-iron great spur wheel which drives two pairs of underdrift

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 in the head of the mill. The mill formerly had a maize kibbler, but this was removed when the mill was restored in 1958. The mill is winded by a tailpole.

Gallery

Image:Chillenden Mill 2008.JPG, The mill in August 2008 Image:Chillenden mill interior1.JPG, The stone floor Image:Chillenden mill interior2.JPG, The meal floor Image:Chillenden mill interior3.JPG, Post and Crown Tree Image:Chillenden mill trestle1.JPG, Top of trestle, showing collar Image:Chillenden mill trestle2.JPG, Bottom of trestle, showing crosstrees and quarterbars Image:Chillenden mill steps.JPG, The ladder, tailpole and talthur

Millers

*Haywood & Cage *William Hopper Bean, 1882–99 *A Laker, 1930 *N W Laker, 1949

References

External links

Chillenden Windmill
- Dover District Council
IJP Millwrights
on the mill.

{{Museums in Kent Windmills in Kent Grinding mills in the United Kingdom Tourist attractions in Kent Post mills in the United Kingdom Windmills completed in 2005 Grade II* listed buildings in Kent Museums in Dover District Mill museums in England