Saxtead Green Post 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 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 ...

Saxtead Saxtead is a small village in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk. Saxtead gives its name to the settlements of Saxtead Green and Saxtead Little Green and the windmill Saxtead Green Windmill. The population of the civil parish a ...

Green,

Woodbridge, Suffolk Woodbridge is a port and market town in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It is up the River Deben from the sea. It lies north-east of Ipswich and forms part of the wider Ipswich built-up area. The town is c ...

, England which is also an

Scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

and has been restored.

History

According to the Manorial Records there has been a windmill in Saxtead since 1287. The current ''Saxtead Green Mill'' dates back to at least 1796 when the miller was Amos Webber. In 1810, the Mill House was built for Robert Holmes. The mill was raised a total of three times during its working life. The mill was tailwinded c. 1853. Around this time, the sails were destroyed and remade but in 1854 Whitmore and Binyon, the

Wickham Market Wickham Market is a large village and electoral ward situated in the River Deben valley of Suffolk, England, within the Suffolk Coastal heritage area. It is on the A12 trunk road north-east of the county town of Ipswich, north-east of Wood ...

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 fitted new

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 ...

machinery and windshaft, and the layout of the machinery changed from Head and Tail to Breast stones. It was in this year that the mill was raised for the third time. Collins, the Melton millwright worked on the mill in the 1870s and Whitmore and Binyon again worked on the mill in the 1890s. From 1926 millwright Jesse Wightman (who was initially apprenticed to A S Aldred the Miller) assisted the owner with repairs until the mill ceased working commercially on the death of the last miller in 1947. The mill passed to Mr Steven Charles Sullivan,(1908-1997) the son-in-law of A S Aldred, who placed the mill in the guardianship of the Ministry of Works in 1951. The mill is currently owned by Stephen and Jonathan Sullivan (ensuring the Mill has been in the ownership of the same family since 1873) The mill was completely rebuilt between 1957 and 1960 under the supervision of Jesse Wightman. A replacement crowntree was obtained from a windmill at

Wetheringsett Wetheringsett is a village in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located to the east of the A140, it is the largest village in the parish of Wetheringsett-cum-Brockford Wetheringsett-cum-Brockford is a civil parish in t ...

which had been demolished. The mill has been in the care of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

since 1984 The mill was repaired, with a new pair of sails made in 2008. In 2017 the mill was closed by English Heritage who undertook a 250k restoration project of the mill. Local Millwright Tim Whiting was appointed to complete the works which involved building a new set of sails and replacing the fantail. The mill was due to reopen in April 2020 but due to the Coronavirus pandemic it has been delayed.

Description

''Saxtead Green Mill'' is a post mill with a three-storey roundhouse. The mill has four

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 windshaft and is winded by a

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 " ...

. The mill has two pairs of

millstones 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 ...

in the breast. All the machinery is of cast iron except the Brake Wheel, which is of

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 ...

Millers

*Amos Webber 1796 *Robert Holmes 1810 *George Holmes *George William Holmes *Mr Meadows *Mr Steggles *Mr Rouse *Frederick Eldred *Alfred Aldred *Alfred Stephenson Robert Aldred - 1947 Reference for the above -

Public access

The mill is open to the public on Friday, Saturday and Bank Holidays between 1 April and 30 September each year.

References

External links

Saxtead Green Post Mill
- official site at English Heritage

webpage on Saxted Green Mill. {{Windmills and Windpumps of East Anglia Buildings and structures completed in the 18th century Windmills in Suffolk English Heritage sites in Suffolk Post mills in the United Kingdom Grade II* listed buildings in Suffolk Scheduled monuments in Suffolk Grinding mills in the United Kingdom Suffolk Coastal Grade II* listed windmills Museums in Suffolk Mill museums in England 18th-century architecture in the United Kingdom