Baker Street Mill 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 ...

smock mill at

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detec ...

, Orsett, Essex, England which has been part adapted to residential use on its lower two floors only.

History

Baker Street Mill is said to have been built in 1765, although a date of 1762 is recorded in the mill. The earliest firm reference for the mill is 1796, this from a sale notice in 1808. It is likely that the mill was raised a storey between 1762 and 1814. The mill was working by wind until 1914. A steam mill was built near the mill towards the end of its working life, a new boiler being supplied in 1906. The mill gradually became more and more derelict, losing two sails in 1926 to a lightning strike. The windmill and steam mill were converted to residential accommodation in 1982.

Description

Baker Street Mill is a three-storey smock mill on a two-storey brick base, with a stage at first-floor level. The mill had four double

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 ...

, and the Kentish-style 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 "f ...

Mill

Baker Street Mill has an

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 two-storey brick base, the walls of which are almost thick at ground level. The base is across the flats and high, the brickwork at the top of the base is about thick. The smock is from sill to curb. The mill is diameter at the curb, the cant posts being about square. The stage is at first-floor level, above the ground. The cap is of Kentish style, with blisters for the brake wheel, with an overall height of some , giving the mill an overall height of about . Winding is by an eight-bladed fantail, although originally the mill was winded by hand.

Sails and windshaft

Baker Street Mill has a cast-iron windshaft and four double patent sails. The windshaft was originally a wooden one. The last working sails were an odd pair, the outer pair having eight bays of four shutters and one bay of three, the inner pair having eleven bays of three shutters.

Machinery

The wooden brake wheel is of clasp arm construction, diameter. It has been converted from compass arm construction. The rim is of elm. The Wallower is wooden, as is the upright shaft. The compass arm great spur wheel is diameter, and has six arms. The mill originally worked two pairs of overdrift millstones, with a third pair being added later.

Fantail

Baker Street Mill was winded by an eight-bladed fantail, replacing the original hand winding by means of a Y wheel and chain, which was retained as a standby method of winding the mill.

Millers

*James Woollings 1830-1839 *William Woolings 1848-1886 *Emma Woolings 1890-1894 *Thomas Ridgewell 1898 *Christopher Moore 1902 *Arthur William Cocks 1908 *William Scott 1910 *H Lindsey 1912 List reference

External links

Windmill World
webpage on Baker Street Mill

References

{{Thurrock places Industrial buildings completed in 1765 Smock mills in England Grinding mills in the United Kingdom Grade II listed buildings in Essex Buildings and structures in Thurrock Grade II listed windmills Octagonal buildings in the United Kingdom Windmills in Essex