Stanford Windmill is a
Grade II*
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 ...
listed
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
Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
that was built in 1857. It stands on Kennett Lane in Stanford.
History
''Stanford mill'' was built in 1857 by the
Ashford 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 Hill. The tower of the mill was cracked when a bomb was dropped nearby 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 ...
. A single cylinder
paraffin Paraffin may refer to:
Substances
* Paraffin wax, a white or colorless soft solid that is used as a lubricant and for other applications
* Liquid paraffin (drug), a very highly refined mineral oil used in cosmetics and for medical purposes
* Alkan ...
engine was fitted between the wars.
This was replaced by a
Ruston & Hornsby
Ruston & Hornsby was an industrial equipment manufacturer in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, England founded in 1918. The company is best known as a manufacturer of narrow gauge railway, narrow and standard gauge diesel locomotives and also of ...
engine in 1936.
[ The mill had a new pair of sails in 1925, 1930][ and 1936. It worked by wind until 1946, in which year the shutters were removed from the sails.][ The sails and cap roof were removed in 1961,][ (Original source:- Milling, 14 July 1961)] and a corrugated asbestos roof built on the cap frame. Milling continued by engine until 1969, with the paraffin engine being replaced by an electric motor. Some of the milling furniture was used in the restoration of Draper's Mill, Margate
Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...
in the 1970s.
Description
''Stanford mill'' is a five-storey tower mill which formerly had a Kentish-type cap. It had 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
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 ...
windshaft. The mill was 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 " ...
and there was a stage at first-floor level. The mill drove four 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, two steel mills and two roller mills.[ The brake wheel is a composite one, with iron arms and a wooden rim. This drives a ]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 ...
wallower. The great spur wheel is also of cast iron. The mill drives to the millstones is overdrift.[
]
Millers
* J Fox 1862
* Thomas Rolfe 1878
* Henry Taylor 1913–1929
* G R Holt 1929–1946
* H Beresford Lye 1946–1959
* M Hancock & Son 1959–1969
References for above:-
References
External links
Windmill World page
on the mill.
{{Kent Windmills
Windmills in Kent
Grinding mills in the United Kingdom
Tower mills in the United Kingdom
Grade II listed buildings in Kent
Windmills completed in 1857
1857 establishments in England