King's Mill or Vincent's Mill, Shipley,

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

, England, is a

smock mill The smock mill is a type of windmill that consists of a sloping, horizontally weatherboarded, thatched, or shingled tower, usually with six or eight sides. It is topped with a roof or cap that rotates to bring the sails into the wind. This type ...

built in 1879.

History

''King's Mill'' was built in 1879 for Friend Martin at a cost of £2,500 by Messrs Grist and Steele, millwrights of

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

. Machinery from a windmill at Coldwaltham is believed to have been incorporated in the mill. Martin operated the windmill and the village shop until he died in 1884. The mill failed to sell so his wife hired Robert Miller as miller on her behalf. In 1895 it was sold to Richard Vincent who hired Ernest Powell as miller. The writer

Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (, ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. H ...

bought the mill and the surrounding land in 1906. Powell continued to be miller while the mill worked commercially until 1926, latterly by a steam engine. After the death of Belloc in 1953. ''King's Mill'' was restored by E. Hole and Sons, the

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 ...

millwrights, as a memorial to the writer, and was re-opened to visitors for the first time in 1958.

West Sussex County Council West Sussex County Council (WSCC) is the authority that governs the non-metropolitan county of West Sussex. The county also contains seven district and borough councils, and 158 town, parish and neighbourhood councils. The county council has 7 ...

had responsibility for the upkeep of the mill which remained in the ownership of the Belloc family. A local committee the Friends of Shipley Windmill opened the mill to visitors until 1986. Major repairs to the mill were required and County Council agreed with the owners to form a charitable trust to manage the mill. The Shipley Windmill Charitable Trust was formed in 1987 and took over responsibility for the repairs and maintenance. Further restoration work was carried out by Hole's between 1987 and 1990, when the mill re-opened, although with only two

sweep Sweep or swept may refer to: Cleaning * Sweep, the action of using a brush to clean * Chimney sweep, a worker who clears ash and soot from chimneys * Street sweeper, a person's occupation, or a machine that cleans streets * Swept quartz, a cleani ...

s at that time. The second pair of sweeps was fitted in 1991. A new stock was fitted in November 2004. On 7 April 2009, it was announced that the mill was to close to the public as the lease owned by Shipley Mill Charitable Trust only had three years to run and the building needed £80,000 worth of repairs. They had been notified that the lease would not be renewed when it expired. The mill opened for the 2009 season on 5 April and held its last open day on 19 July. The owners fitted two new pairs of sweeps and a further new stock on 21 June 2013. In 2021, a

planning application Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

to convert the engine house to residential use was rejected by

Horsham District Council Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby town ...

Description

King's Mill is a four-storey smock mill on a two-storey brick base. It 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 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 octagonal conical cap 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 brake wheel is wood, driving a cast-iron wallower on an oak upright shaft. This carries a cast-iron great spur wheel which drives three pairs of overdrift

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. The mill is

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 ...

Millers

*1879-1884 Friend Martin *1884-1895 Robert Wood *1895-1926 Ernest Powell Sources:

Culture and media

In the BBC television series ''

Jonathan Creek ''Jonathan Creek'' is a long-running British mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the titular character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician while also solvi ...

'', the mill was the filming location for Creek's home.

References

External links