Caston Tower 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 ...

Caston Caston is a village and civil parish in the English of Norfolk. History Caston's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for "Catt's farmstead or settlement". In the Domesday Book, Caston is recorded as a settlement of 5 ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...

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 ...

which is under restoration. The mill is also a scheduled monument.

History

Caston Windmill was built in 1864, replacing a

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 ...

which had been standing in 1834. The tower was built by William Wright, a local builder, and fitted out 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 ...

Robert Hambling of

East Dereham Dereham (), also known as East Dereham, is a town and civil parish in the Breckland District of the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A47 road, about 15 miles (25 km) west of the city of Norwich and 25 miles (40&n ...

. It bears a date stone inscribed EW 1864, referring to Edward Wyer, who had owned the post mill. The mill caught fire during a storm on 24 March 1895 but it is not recorded how much damage was done. The Watton fire brigade were called upon to deal with the fire. Edward Wyer ran the mill until his death on 5 July 1897. His property was offered for sale by

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition e ...

on 7 October 1897 at the Dukes Head

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

, Caston, but remained unsold. Wyer's son James took the mill and ran it until 1910 when he retired. In that year, Wyer's brother-in-law Benjamin Knott took the mill. A new stock was fitted in August 1915 and a new sail fitted by Robert Martin, millwright of

Beccles Beccles ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . The town is shown on the milestone as from London via the A145 and A12 roads, north-east of London as the crow fl ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

, in September 1922, at which date the mill was painted. Knott ran the mill until 1940, latterly in partnership with his son James. During Knott's tenure, a Hornsby oil engine was installed in the granary, driving a further pair 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 wikt:convex, convex stationary base known as the ''be ...

s. In 1940, the mill was sold to James Bilham, who used the engine driven millstones for milling, and removed the two pairs of Peak millstones from the windmill. Bilham died in 1967 and the mill was sold by his widow in October 1969. The mill was bought by millwright John Lawn, who intended to restore the mill to working order. The granary was converted to residential accommodation. Lawn entered into partnership with Philip Lennard as Lennard and Lawn (Millwrights) Ltd, at the time the only professional millwrights based in Norfolk. Lennard & Lawn did a lot of work for the

Norfolk Windmills Trust The Norfolk Windmills Trust is a charitable organization, charity based in Norfolk, England, Norfolk, England, which restores and cares for windmills in that county. Mills in its care (but not necessarily owned) include those at: *Ashtree Farm Mil ...

and consequently the restoration of Caston Mill took place on an "as and when" basis. The cap and sails were removed on 23 November 1983. John Lawn died in January 2000. A memorial plaque was dedicated to him at

Old Buckenham Old Buckenham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, approximately south-west of Norwich. It covers an area of and had a population of 1,294 in 658 households at the 2001 census falling to a population of 1,270 livin ...

. The cap was refitted to Caston Mill in 2000.

Description

Caston Windmill is a six-storey tower mill with a two storey granary attached. There is a stage at second floor level. The tower is outside diameter at ground level with walls thick. It is outside diameter at curb level. The tower is tall to curb level. The boat-shaped cap is winded by a six-bladed

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 a ...

. The four ''double Patent sails'' have ten bays. Eight bays carried three shutters and two bays carried two shutters. The sails are carried on a cast-iron ''windshaft'', which also carries a diameter wooden clasp arm ''brake wheel''. The cast-iron ''wallower'' is carried on a wooden ''upright shaft''. The three pairs of millstones were driven ''underdrift''.

Millers

*Edward Wyer (1864–97) *James Wyer (1897–1910) *Benjamin Knott (1910–?) *Benjamin & James Knott (?–1940) *James Bilham (1940–67)

References

External links

Windmill World
webpage on Caston Mill {{Windmills and Windpumps of East Anglia Windmills in Norfolk Tower mills in the United Kingdom Grinding mills in the United Kingdom Windmills completed in 1864 Grade II* listed buildings in Norfolk Breckland District Grade II* listed windmills 1864 establishments in England