Messing Maypole Mill 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 ...

Tower mill A tower mill is a type of vertical windmill consisting of a brick or stone tower, on which sits a wooden 'cap' or roof, which can rotate to bring the sails into the wind.Medieval science, technology, and medicine: an encyclopedia (2005), 520 Thi ...

Tiptree Tiptree is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Essex, situated south-west of Colchester and around north-east of London. Surrounding villages include Messing, Essex, Messing, Tolleshunt Knights, Toll ...

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 ...

, England which has been converted to a residence. Prior to

boundary Boundary or Boundaries may refer to: * Border, in political geography Entertainment *Boundaries (2016 film), ''Boundaries'' (2016 film), a 2016 Canadian film *Boundaries (2018 film), ''Boundaries'' (2018 film), a 2018 American-Canadian road trip ...

changes made when the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

of Tiptree was established in 1934, the mill was in the parish of

Tolleshunt Knights Tolleshunt Knights is a village and civil parish in the English county of Essex. The Parish has a Parish council, and lies within the area of Maldon District Council. It borders Tiptree, Layer Marney and Salcott cum Virley within the Colchest ...

History

''Messing Maypole Mill'' was built in 1775 by

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

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 ...

John Mathett at a cost of £315 excluding the brickwork. Matchett also rebuilt a

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 ...

which stood some south west of the tower mill (TL 894 167) and sum of £315 may include that work. Matchett owned the mill until it was purchased by miller Thomas Green in 1797. The mill passed to Edward Harvey on Green's death in 1806. Harvey died in 1829 and in 1829 the mill was purchased by miller James Peake. Peake was declared bankrupt in 1845 and the mill sold by his assignees. George Ransom was the next miller, and he introduced

steam power 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 ...

. After the death of Ransom in 1884 the mill was run by his widow for a few years and then by Henry Cattermole. In 1890, the Colchester millwright Bryant replaced the old wooden windshaft with the cast iron windshaft from the annular sailed mill at

Roxwell Roxwell is a village and civil parish in the Chelmsford district of Essex, England. The village is approximately west from the centre of the county town of Chelmsford, and to the south of the A1060 road, on which are the parish hamlets of Boyto ...

. Bryant may have added the

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 ...

at this time. Milling by wind ceased c1911. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the mill was worked by steam alone. Frederick King put the mill back to full working order in the 1920s, but the sails were finally removed in February 1927, leaving just the stocks. Milling continued until at least 1962, although the

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 were removed in 1960. Power latterly was by electricity. The mill was converted into a residence in 1969.

Description

''Messing Maypole Mill'' is a four-storey brick tower mill with a domed cap. When built it had four

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 ...

carried on a wooden windshaft and was winded by hand. There was a stage at first-floor level. The tower is diameter at base level, decreasing to at curb level. Height of the tower is to curb and the mill stands to the base of the finial on the cap, which was latterly winded by a fantail carried over the rear extension which housed the hand winding apparatus. The brickwork is thick at base level and thick at curb level. The diameter wooden Brake Wheel is of clasp arm construction, converted from compass arm. It has 72 cogs and is carried on a cast-iron windshaft which formerly carried four double Patent sails. The brake wheel drove a wooden Wallower carried on a long wooden Upright Shaft. The diameter wooden Great Spur Wheel is of compass arm construction with 84 cogs. The mill latterly drove three pairs of millstones.

Millers

*Thomas Green 1776–1806 *James Peake 1806–1848 *George D Ransom 1848–1884 *Mrs. Ransom 1884–1887 *Henry Cattermole 1887–c1911 *Frederick King 1922–1937 References for above:-

External links

Windmill World
webpage on Messing Maypole Mill

References

{{EssexWindmills Windmills in Essex History of Essex Grade II listed buildings in Essex Tower mills in the United Kingdom Grinding mills in the United Kingdom Windmills completed in 1775 Grade II listed windmills Tiptree