Keston 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 ...

Post mill in

Keston Keston is a village in Greater London, England, located within the London Borough of Bromley, Greater London. Prior to 1965 it was withing the historic county of Kent. It is part suburban, part rural in nature and lies on the edge of Hayes Com ...

, formerly in

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 ...

and now in the

London Borough of Bromley The London Borough of Bromley () is the southeasternmost of the London boroughs that make up Greater London, bordering the ceremonial county of Kent, which most of Bromley was part of before 1965. The borough's population is an estimated 332,336 ...

. The mill was built in 1716 and is conserved with its machinery intact but not in working order.

History

''Keston Windmill'' was built in 1716. William Ashby, the

Westerham Westerham is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 3.4 miles east of Oxted and 6 miles west of Sevenoaks, adjacent to the Kent border with both Greater London and Surrey. It is recorded as early as t ...

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 ...

fitted new sails and repaired the breast of the mill in December 1836. The mill was working by wind until either 1878This date may refer to Olive's Mill, Keston or 1900. In 1955,

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 ...

placed a preservation order on the mill. The mill was built to grind corn into flour. The mill is privately owned and preserved with its machinery intact, but not in working order. It is not generally open to the public.

Description

''Keston Mill'' has a three-storey body on a single-storey roundhouse. The roundhouse enclosed the

trestle ATLAS-I (Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator), better known as Trestle, was a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War at Sandia National Laborato ...

and the date 1716 is carved on the main post. It had 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''. The mill is winded by a tailpole. The wooden ''brake wheel'' drives a cast-iron ''wallower'', which drives a cast-iron ''great spur wheel'' with wooden cogs. This 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 breast of the mill. The mill also has 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 ...

(bolter). The bolter in Keston mill has been used as the model for a reconstructed bolter in Lowfield Heath Windmill,

Charlwood Charlwood is a village and civil parish in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England. It is immediately northwest of London Gatwick Airport in West Sussex, close west of Horley and north of Crawley. The Historic counties of England, historic co ...

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. ...

Millers

* John Ellis 1838 * Thomas Ellis 1845 * Martin J Hoath 1845 * B Hoadley 1862 References for above:-

References

External links

Windmill World page
on the mill. {{Windmills in England Windmills in London Grinding mills in the United Kingdom Post mills in the United Kingdom Windmills completed in 1716 Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of Bromley Grade I listed windmills 1716 establishments in England