Framsden 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 ...

post mill The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single vertical post, around which it can be turned to bring the sails into the wind. All p ...

Framsden Framsden is a village and civil parish located around north of Ipswich and south of the small market town of Debenham in the English county of Suffolk. The total population of Framsden in the census of 2001 was 299, with 125 households, 52 peo ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

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 is preserved. The mill was known as Webster's Mill when it was a working mill.

History

''Framsden Windmill'' was built in 1760 for John Flick. In 1836, the mill was bought by John Smith, a brickmaker from

St Osyth St Osyth is an English village and civil parish in the Tendring District of north-east Essex, about west of Clacton-on-Sea and south-east of Colchester. It lies on the B1027, Colchester–Clacton road. The village is named after Osgyth, a 7t ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. Smith had the mill raised by and modernised by John Whitmore and Son,

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, of

Wickham Market Wickham Market is a large village and electoral ward situated in the River Deben valley of Suffolk, England, within the Suffolk Coastal heritage area. It is on the A12 trunk road north-east of the county town of Ipswich, north-east of Wood ...

. In 1843, the mill was bought by William Bond, who owned the mill until 1872 (and worked it for at least part of that time), when it was sold to Joseph Rivers. In 1879, the mill was sold to Edmund Webster, who had been listed as a miller at the mill in 1854, and later passed to his son Edmund Samuel Webster, who worked the mill until ''ca.'' 1936. In June 1966 a group of volunteers started to restore the mill. Two new Patent sails were fitted in 1969.

Restoration

Restoration of ''Framsden Windmill'' commenced in June 1966. A stock had broken and half a sail had fallen shortly before, so the remaining half sail and its partner were removed, along with the stock. The roof was made watertight and the left side bottom side rail was strengthened. This work was carried out by Frank Farrow, Stanley Freese, Christopher Hullcoop, Vincent Pargeter and Peter Stenning. In 1967, the main post was strengthened with iron bars and steel hoops as it was badly split. The mill was at that time head-sick, and leant to the right. This was attended to, and the mill put back on an even keel. The right hand side girt was found to have broken at the joint with the crown tree. It was reinforced with a heavy angle iron bolted on top. In 1968, the two remaining sails were lowered for repair and the stock was reinforced by fitting a pair of clamps. In 1969, the Brake Wheel was repaired, with two new

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

segments being made and fitted. The repaired sails were refitted in March and July. The striking gear was repaired, with the cross from Victoria Mill,

Eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

replacing that broken when the sail fell. On 7 February 1970, the mill turned by wind again. A

lightning conductor A lightning rod or lightning conductor (British English) is a metal rod mounted on a structure and intended to protect the structure from a lightning strike. If lightning hits the structure, it will preferentially strike the rod and be conducte ...

was fitted and the Brake Wheel was re-cogged with

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Origin of names The common English name ''hornbeam' ...

. The Brake Wheel originally had 61 cogs, and was refitted with 78 cogs when the mill was modernised. In 1971, work was done to get the left-hand pair of millstones into working order and repair the fantail carriage. In May 1972, the mill ground wheat for the first time in preservation. The rear steps were repaired and the fantail carriage fitted in 1973.

Description

''Framsden Windmill'' was built as an open trestle post mill with

Common sails Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

and winded by a tailpole. The two pairs of millstones were arranged Head and Tail, each driven by a compass arm wheel. A roundhouse was added in 1836 and 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 ...

was added. At this time, the wooden windshaft was replaced by a cast iron one and Patent sails were added. The compass-arm Brake Wheel was converted to clasp-arm construction. The mill drives two pairs of French Burr

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 breast of the mill, the left hand pair are diameter and the right hand pair are diameter. Unusually, the Upright Shaft is offset. The millstones are geared at 7.8:1. The rear of the mill has been extended to accommodate a

flour dresser A flour dresser is a mechanical device used in grain mills for bolting or flour extraction which is the process of separating the finished flour from the other grain components following milling. The milling of grain into flour has been termed th ...

. The Patent sails have a weather of 25˚ at the heel and 5˚ at the tip. The frame of the mill was built of

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

, with

pitch pine ''Pinus rigida'', the pitch pine, is a small-to-medium-sized pine. It is native to eastern North America, primarily from central Maine south to Georgia and as far west as Kentucky. It is found in environments which other species would find unsuit ...

being introduced for the Sprattle Beam and Tail beam when the mill was modernised. The mill is to the roof, making it the second tallest post mill in Suffolk. The sails were wide with a span of .

Millers

*John Flick 1760– *John Smith 1836–43 *William Bond 1843–72 *Joseph Rivers 1872–79 *Edmund Webster 1879– *Edmund Samuel Webster — 1936 Reference for above.

External links

Windmill World
webpage on Framsden mill.

References

{{Windmills in England Windmills in Suffolk Post mills in the United Kingdom Grade II* listed buildings in Suffolk Windmills completed in 1760 Grinding mills in the United Kingdom Mid Suffolk District Grade II* listed windmills