Oldland Windmill is an 18th-century

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 ...

situated near the village of

Keymer Keymer is a village in Hassocks civil parish, in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the B2116 road south of Burgess Hill. Keymer was an ancient parish that like its near neighbour Clayton was merged into the modern ...

, West Sussex, England.

History

Oldland Windmill was built (the earliest record of a windmill in the area dates from 1703). It was originally an open trestle mill, with the roundhouse being added later. Records show that a mill stood in Keymer in 1755, and the mill was marked on a map dated 1783, but it is not shown on one dated 1795. The 1801 National Defence Schedule records the mill but the 1813

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and Greenwood's 1829 map omit the mill. However, the larger scale Surveyor's Draft of the Ordnance Survey does show the mill. Records show that the mill was standing in 1828. Oldland Mill was working by wind until 1912. The mill began to fall into disrepair in the early part of the 20th century and continued to deteriorate. The

Sussex Archaeological Society The Sussex Archaeological Society, founded in 1846, is one of the oldest county-based archaeological societies in the UK. A registered self-funding charity whose charitable aims are to enable people to enjoy, learn about and have access to the he ...

acquired the mill in 1927 and repairs were carried out by E Hole and Sons of

Burgess Hill Burgess Hill is a town and civil parish in West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park, south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town, Chichester. It ...

in 1934. In 1976, at the Annual General Meeting of the Hassocks Amenity Association, there was a talk was given on the work of

Weald and Downland Open Air Museum The Weald and Downland Living Museum (formerly known as the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum until January 2017) is an open-air museum in Singleton, West Sussex. The museum is a registered charity. The museum covers , with over 50 historic ...

. The question of how to preserve Oldland Mill was raised. The mill was then in the ownership of the

. The mill was surveyed in 1977 by

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 ...

s Vincent Pargeter and Edwin Hole and found to be close to collapse. Following negotiations with the Sussex Archaeological Society in 1979 the Hassocks Amenity Association leased the mill in 1980 and began a period of volunteer-led restoration. Since then the mill has benefited from a

DEFRA DEFRA may refer to: * Deficit Reduction Act of 1984, United States law * Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, United Kingdom government department {{Disambiguation ...

grant and substantial work has been completed, almost entirely carried out by volunteers. The mill was stripped to her bare essentials and many new parts completely and accurately built from scratch to replace rotten parts. The whole mill has been reclad and as of 18 October 2007 the four sweeps had been lifted into position. The mill ground its first batch of corn for many decades in October 2008, and following detailed commissioning the windmill now grinds flour regularly, being one of the few windmills registered for flour sales in Sussex. It is Sussex's oldest working windmill and today the mill is looked after by the volunteers of Oldland Mill Trust, a registered charity which owns the mill. The original auxiliary drive system was restored and commissioned in 2015 when steam power was used to drive the mill for the first time in over 100 years.

Restoration

The first working party on 2 August 1980 cleared rubbish around the mill and made a temporary repair to the roof of the roundhouse. In 1981, the two remaining sweeps and stock were removed with the assistance of sailors from HMS ''Daedalus''. In 1983, an "A" frame was constructed to support the windshaft. The mill was restored over the next ten years, with much of the framing being replaced, including the trestle, crown tree, breast, tail and side frames. A new diameter clasp arm head wheel and brake was constructed in 2006. The head wheel is of

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

with

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Origin of names The common English name ''hornbeam' ...

cogs and

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

arms.

Description

Oldland Mill is a post mill on a single-storey

octagon In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...

al roundhouse. It has four

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

sweeps and is winded by a tailpole. The windshaft is

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 ...

and was cast by Boaz Medhurst, the

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

, in 1873. 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, arranged head and tail.

Millers

*George Bennett - 1828 *Joseph Roots Beard 1828 - 1840 *Joseph Winchester - 1860 *Thomas Ashdown 1860-1869 *Jesse Washington White 1869 - 1891 *John Turner -1895 *John White - 1904 *David Driver - 1912 Reference for above list is sourced from research carried out by volunteers of Oldland Mill, see Oldland Mill website.

References

External links

Oldland Mill websiteCharity Commission

Gallery

File:Oldland Mill.jpg, The mill in November 2007. Image:Oldland Mill from the S Downs 1108.jpg, Oldland Mill in the context of its surrounding countryside. File:Oldland Mill Granary.jpg, The original granary for the mill, Feb 09. File:Rear view of Oldland Mill.jpg, Rear view of the mill in February 2009. File:Oldland Mill 1108.jpg, Oldland Mill in 2008. {{Sussex Windmills Industrial buildings completed in 1700 Windmills in West Sussex Wills and trusts in the United Kingdom Tourist attractions in West Sussex Post mills in the United Kingdom Museums in West Sussex Mill museums in England Charities based in West Sussex 1700 establishments in England Grade II listed buildings in West Sussex Mid Sussex District