Fowler's Mill was a horizontal

windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...

erected at

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batter ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

(now in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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 ...

in 1788 and which ceased to work by wind c. 1825.

History

''Fowler's Mill'' was built in the grounds of the partly demolished Bolingbroke House in 1788 by Thomas Fowler to a design of Stephen Hooper. It worked by wind until 1825, when the windmill was dismantled, leaving the substructure, which was used for milling as late as 1882. Initially it was used to produce

linseed oil Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colourless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant (''Linum usitatissimum''). The oil is obtained by pressing, sometimes followed by ...

, but was later was used to grind

malt Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, wh ...

for a

distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

. The mill was supplemented by a

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

, and

Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...

is said to have shown great interest in the whole enterprise. The windmill was dismantled in 1825 as the cost of maintenance was too high. The building that the windmill was mounted on continued in use as a steam-powered mill until at least 1882.

Description

''Fowler's Mill'' had a three-storey base, which was diameter at the ground and diameter at the top of the high walls. The windmill was mounted on top of this structure, it was a twelve sided structure some tall, giving an overall height of some overall. There were ninety-six sails (called floats), with the same number of shutters in the mill body which could be opened or closed to allow a flow of air through one half of the diameter of the structure. The mill drove six pairs of millstones. In height, it compared well with Southtown Windmill,

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

, which was one of the tallest windmills in England at in height.

Millers

*Hodgson & Co. *Dives

References

External links

''Horizontal Windmills''
- Battersea windmill is described in this excerpt from the paper by Rex Wailes, published in ''Transactions of the Newcomen Society'',1967–68, Vol 40. {{Windmills in England Former windmills in London Grinding mills in the United Kingdom Windmills completed in 1788 Former buildings and structures in the London Borough of Wandsworth 1788 establishments in England Buildings and structures in Battersea