Moulton Windmill in the

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

village of

Moulton Moulton may refer to: Places in the United Kingdom ;In England *Moulton, Cheshire * Moulton, Lincolnshire **Moulton Windmill * Moulton St Mary, Norfolk * Moulton, Northamptonshire ** Moulton College, agricultural college ** Moulton Park, indus ...

, between Spalding and

Holbeach Holbeach is a market town and civil parish in the South Holland District in Lincolnshire, England. The town lies from Spalding; from Boston; from King's Lynn; from Peterborough; and by road from Lincoln. It is on the junction of the ...

is a restored windmill claimed to be the tallest

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 ...

in the United Kingdom. The nine-storeyed mill is 80 ft (24.4 metres) to the curb and 100 ft (29.6 metres) to top of the

ogee An ogee ( ) is the name given to objects, elements, and curves—often seen in architecture and building trades—that have been variously described as serpentine-, extended S-, or sigmoid-shaped. Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combinatio ...

cap. In full working order again with its (or her) four patent sails on, Moulton mill is the tallest working windmill in Great Britain and one of the tallest worldwide. (The 9-storey tower windmill at

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

, near

Stalham Stalham is a market town and civil parish on the River Ant in the English county of Norfolk, in East Anglia. It covers an area of and had a population of 2,951 in 1,333 households at the 2001 census, the population increasing to 3,149 at the 20 ...

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 ...

has about 67 ft 6 in to the curb, 79 ft 6 in to the top of the Norfolk boat-shaped cap). The mill, built in c. 1822 by Robert King, was a fully functioning windmill, grinding wheat and other products. However, on 20 December 1894, the sails were damaged in a harsh gale and were removed in 1895. Soon afterwards, a steam system was installed to power the mill. A. W. Tindall leased it from the King family from 1890 until 1921. The Biggadike family, who took over tenancy of the mill in 1924 continued to mill, albeit small quantities of animal feed, until 1995. A local campaign was established to restore the

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 ...

mill to full working condition. In 2003, the mill featured on the first series of

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

's ''

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

'' with

Tim Wonnacott Timothy Wonnacott (born 12 March 1951) is an English chartered auctioneer, chartered surveyor, antiques expert, narrator, and a television presenter. He was previously a director of Sotheby's, one of the world's oldest auction houses. He is ...

as its Celebrity Advocate. The project won a large

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

grant, which, along with many fundraising events has meant that the "Friends of Moulton Mill" campaign has succeeded in raising enough money to restore and refurbish the mill's structure and add a new cap. The new white ogee cap, (which weighs 14 ton) is visible for miles across the flat Fenland landscape. A café and shop has also been built, and the mill has disabled access, allowing disabled visitors to see some of the mill's inner workings. The Friends of Moulton Mill have encouraged local people to "sponsor" a sail shutter. In March 2007, the mill ground flour again. The reefing gallery, an external balcony which is 40 ft from the ground, was restored in June 2008. New sails were fitted on 21 November 2011 to complete the restoration of the mill. The community restoration took 14 years to complete at a cost of nearly £2m. On 28 April 2013 the first bag of flour in over 100 years was ground with

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...

."Moulton windmill's flour-from-sail power for first time in 120 years"
BBC News; 2 May 2013

References

External links

Moulton Windmill website

Visit Moulton Windmill

BBC2 Restoration

Images of the windmill