Herne Windmill is a

Grade I 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 ...

smock mill in Herne,

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, that was built in 1789.

History

''Herne Windmill'' was built by John Holman in 1789 when he was working for Sweetlove, the Wingham

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 ...

. There are records of a windmill in Herne as early as 1405. The mill replaced an earlier

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 ...

that was standing in 1511 and was marked on Philip Symonson's map of 1596, John Speed's map of 1611, Robert Morden's map of 1695,

Emanuel Bowen Emanuel Bowen (1694 – 8 May 1767) was a Welsh map engraver, who achieved the unique distinction of becoming Royal Mapmaker to both to King George II of Great Britain and Louis XV of France. Bowen was highly regarded by his contemporaries for pr ...

's map of 1736 and Andrews, Drury and Herbert's map of 1769. In 1858, the mill was raised, and a two-storey brick base built underneath it. A new

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

worm was fitted in 1931, replacing the old wooden one. In the 1930s, the mill was working on two sails only. Frank Wootton, the miller, sought the assistance of the

Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) (also known as Anti-Scrape) is an amenity society founded by William Morris, Philip Webb, and others in 1877 to oppose the destructive 'restoration' of ancient buildings occurring in ...

(SPAB), and after

Rex Wailes Reginald "Rex" Wailes OBE, FSA, F I Mech E (6 March 1901 – 7 January 1986) was an English engineer and historian who published widely on aspects of engineering history and industrial archaeology, particularly on windmills and watermills. W ...

made a report on the mill, two sails from th
Black Mill, Forncett End

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 ...

were fitted by Thomas Hunt of

Soham Soham ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of East Cambridgeshire, in Cambridgeshire, England, just off the A142 between Ely and Newmarket. Its population was 10,860 at the 2011 census. History Archaeology The region between Dev ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, 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 North ...

in 1936. A new pair of sails was constructed by Hunt, the work being made possible by support from SPAB, the

Duchess of Kent Duchess of Kent is the principal courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, the wife of Prince Edward. He inherited the dukedom ...

and

Trinity House "Three In One" , formation = , founding_location = Deptford, London, England , status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity , purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons , he ...

. The latter assisted as the mill was marked as a navigational landmark for shipping. The mill worked by wind until 1952, assisted latterly by a steam engine, then an oil engine. After that date, milling was done with an electric motor supplying the power. Milling continued with the electric motor until 1980.

Description

''Herne Mill'' has a three-storey smock on a two-storey brick base. It has four double

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 ...

carried on a

cast-iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

windshaft, housed in a Kentish-style cap. The mill is winded by a fantail. There is a stage at a level between the first and second floor. The Brake Wheel is composite, with an iron centre and a wooden rim. It drives a wooden compass arm Wallower on a wooden Upright Shaft. This carries a wooden compass arm Great Spur Wheel. The mill drives three pairs of

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 overdrift. New sails were fitted in 2004. These measure long by wide each, with a total span of . The 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 v ...

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 ...

. On May 21, 2020. The sails were removed since the first lockdown of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Millers

*Webb *(Job) Lawrence & Sons (John and Edward) 1795 - 1879 *John Lawrence (nephew of Job) 1763 - 1840 *Edward Lawrence 1845 - *Thomas Wootton 1879 - 1928 *Frank Wootton * R C & E E Wootton *Clive Wootton 1925 - 1980 Robert Wootton References for above:-

References

External links

Kent Windmills - information on visiting the mill
on the mill. {{Kent Windmills Windmills in Kent Grinding mills in the United Kingdom Smock mills in England Tourist attractions in Kent Grade I listed buildings in Kent Windmills completed in 1789 Museums in the City of Canterbury Mill museums in England Octagonal buildings in the United Kingdom 1789 establishments in England