Bragg's Mill, William Bragg's Mill, Bartlow Hamlet Mill or Stevington End Mill is a

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

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 central vertical post. The vertical post is supported by four quarter bars. These ar ...

Ashdon Ashdon, is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. It is about northeast of Saffron Walden and northwest from the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the district of Uttlesford and the parliamentary constituency of Saffron Wal ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

which has been restored.

History

''Bragg's Mill'' was built in 1757 by William Haylock, a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

of Ashdon. In 1813, the

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * Factory * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Paper mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * Sugarcane mill * Textile mill * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic ...

was advertised for sale, then having two pairs of

millstone Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, used for triturating, crushing or, more specifically, grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a s ...

s. At this time it was still an open trestle mill. The mill was extended at the tail c1815. A roundhouse was added circa 1820. The mill was working until c1912. By 1932 the mill was being propped up from beneath, as the side girt on the left side had failed. The mill was renovated in the late 1950s, but was derelict again by 1974, when further repairs were carried out. The

sails A sail is a tensile structure, which is made from fabric or other membrane materials, that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may b ...

were removed in the 1990s.

Restoration

A meeting of the villagers in April 1999 agreed that the windmill should be restored and that included the sails being fitted. The Ashdon Windmill Trust Ltd was formed and registered as a charity. Planning permission and listed building permission were obtained. In 2000, the mill was gifted to Ashdon village by the Thurlow Estate, who owned it, with the promise of a £25,000 donation once the Trust had raised £25,000 itself. The Essex Environment Trust gave a grant of £40,000 in 2001. Restoration of the mill started in March 2002. Vincent Pargeter was engaged to do the restoration. The frame of the mill was straightened, and the mill completely reclad in new weatherboards. By 2004 the mill was resplendent in a new coat of white paint. In July 2004, a grant of £46,900 was received from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

. New sails were fitted on 5 July 2006.

Description

''Bragg's Mill'' is a post mill with a single storey roundhouse. It has four

patent sails Windmills are powered by their sails. Sails are found in different forms, 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 r ...

carried on a wooden windshaft with a

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

poll end. Two sails are double shuttered and two are single shuttered. Two pairs of millstones are driven, arranged Head and Tail. The mill is winded by tailpole. The mill is high to the roof.

Trestle and roundhouse

Before the recent restoration, the lower crosstree had been clamped at a quarterbar joint. The crosstrees stand within of ground level. The brick piers that the crosstrees rest on had been tarred, and the crosstrees themselves painted white, evidence that the mill was built as an open trestle mill. Both crosstrees are of

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

, the upper being long and in section, whilst the lower crosstree is 12 by 11 in (305 by 292 mm) at the ends, thickening to at the centre. The post is long, and square at its base.

Body

Ashdon Windmill - Brake Wheel - geograph

The body of the mill measures 19 ft 10 in by 11 ft (6.05 by 3.35 m) in plan. At some point, the body of the mill had been extended at the back to provide room for a bolter. It was originally only long. The crown tree is square at the ends, thickening to at the centre. The side girts are by in section.

Sails and windshaft

The windshaft is of wood with a cast iron poll end, probably fitted at the same time that the Patent sails were added. The mill would originally have been built with common sails.

Machinery

The clasp arm wooden head wheel was converted from Compass arm construction, it is diameter. The wooden tail wheel has also been similarly converted, it is diameter. The mill was originally built with a single pair of millstones, the second pair probably being added when the mill was extended at the rear.

Millers

*Josiah Giblin 1809 - 1819 *John Ruse 1830 *John Brown 1848 *Frederick and John Ruse 1850 *John Bragg 1898 *William Bragg 1894 - 1912 References for above:-

Culture

''Bragg's Mill'' in its last working years was described in the book ''Five Miles from Bunkum''.

Public access

The mill is open to the public on the second Sunday of each month, starting in April each year.

References

External links

Windmill World
webpage on Ashdon mill.
Ashdon Windmill Trust
homepage. {{Authority control Post mills in the United Kingdom Grinding mills in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures completed in 1757 Windmills completed in the 18th century Grade II listed buildings in Essex Museums in Essex Mill museums in England Windmills in Essex Buildings and structures in Uttlesford Grade II listed windmills 1757 establishments in England