Mountnessing 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 at Mountnessing, Essex, England. Built in 1807, it was most recently restored to working order in 1983.

History

''Mountnessing Windmill'' was built in 1807, replacing an earlier mill. There are records of a windmill here since 1477. The mill was working until 1924, and it worked again in 1932-33. In 1937, ownership of the mill passed from the Blencowe Estates to Mountnessing Parish Council. It was repaired as a memorial to

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

, whose coronation was in that year.

Restoration

The mill was restored to working order between 1979 and 1983. A complete new roof was fitted, and the tail of the mill rebuilt. New sails were fitted, and the mill officially opened by

Hervey Benham Hervey William Gurney Benham (; 1910–1987) was an English journalist, the founding proprietor of Essex County Newspapers, an author of books on Essex and the East Coast, a musician, and benefactor. Of his at least fourteen books, among the best k ...

Author of a book on Essex watermills on 13 November 1983. The internal machinery has been rebuilt by Peter Stenning and Richard Seago, and the mill is in full working order.

Description

''Mountnessing Windmill'' is a post mill with a single-storey sixteen-sided roundhouse. The mill is winded by a tailpole. It has four

spring 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 ...

. There are two 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 in the breast.

Trestle and roundhouse

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 ...

is of oak, with the main post of elm. The crosstrees are long, by in section. The underside of the lower crosstree is above ground level. The main post is nearly in length, square at its base. The quarterbars are by in section. The mill was originally built as an open trestle mill, with a roundhouse added at a later date. Three of the crosstree/quarterbar joints have been strengthened with bolted splints. The sixteen-sided roundhouse is of brick, with a boarded roof covered in tarred felt. It had a thatched roof until 1909, when it was replaced as it was infested with

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' ( pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...

Body

The body of the mill measures just under by in plan. The crowntree is square in section. It receives a diameter pintle projecting from the top of the main post. The side girts are by in section at the ends, thickening to at the crosstree.

Sails and windshaft

As originally built, the mill would have had a wooden windshaft and four common sails. The sails are spring sails. The windshaft is of cast iron, replacing the former wooden one. It was probably second-hand when fitted to the mill. It has a mounting for a tail wheel, which would have been forward-facingi.e. with the cogs facing the front of the mill when fitted; this and other evidence shows that the mill was originally built with a head and tail layout.

Machinery

The wooden brake wheel is of clasp arm construction. It has 77 cogs of pitch, driving a wooden wallower with 21 cogs. The cast-iron spur wheel is diameter with 66 cogs. It drives the two pairs of

s underdrift via two diameter stone nuts with 32 cogs each. The mill was assisted in its later years by a portable

steam engine 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 ...

, which had been built by Wedlake & Dendy Ltd., Engineers of Hornchurch and carried their works number 74.

Millers

*Robert Agnis 1807 - 1826 *Joseph Agnis 1826 - *Alfred Agnis 1863 *Joseph Agnis - 1906 *Robert Agnis 1908 - 1924 *Emily Agnis 1932 - 1933 References for above:-

Public access

The mill is open to the public on the third Sunday of each month between May and October.

References

External links

Essex Country Parks
webpage on Mountnessing Post Mill

webpage on Mountnessing Windmill {{EssexWindmills Post mills in the United Kingdom Grinding mills in the United Kingdom Windmills completed in 1807 Grade II* listed buildings in Essex Museums in Essex Mill museums in England Monuments and memorials in Essex Windmills in Essex Borough of Brentwood Grade II* listed windmills