Lower Green Mill is a

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 ...

at Lower Green, located to the north of the

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Hindringham Hindringham is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Hindringham is located north-east of Fakenham and north-west of Norwich. History Hindringham's name is of Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. The mill stands on the east side of the lane between Hindringham and Binham and is four miles east of

Walsingham Walsingham () is a civil parish in North Norfolk, England, famous for its religious shrines in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. It also contains the ruins of two medieval Christian monasticism, monastic houses.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Expl ...

. The structure is a grade II

listed building 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, Hi ...

Description

The tower is constructed from Norfolk red bricks and has five storeys.
Mill description On the top of the tower there was a Norfolk clinker boat style cap with a six-bladed Windmill fantail, fantail. The cap had a gallery and a petticoat around the base of the cap. The mill had four sails with double shutters each with eight bays of three shutters. The sails powered three pairs of

millstones Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, used for Trituration, triturating, crusher, crushing or, more specifically, grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstone ...

, of which one had a diameter of five feet. The internal machinery also included a sifter and a flour mill. Also on site a bakehouse was built in 1862. In March 1860 the windmill was badly damaged in a

gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface wind moving at a speed between .

which prompted a 10 horse power Garwood

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

to be installed to act as auxiliary power.

History

The windmill was built in 1844 and is located on the site of an early

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 ...

. In 1908, after 64 years, Hindringham Lower Green tower windmill ceased working as a mill. In 1920 the windmill was sold by the Gunthorpe Estate and by 1937 the mill had become derelict. In 1970 the mill was sold and renovation work began to turn the windmill into residential use. In 1985 renovation work was carried out again with a new clinker boat-shape cap fitted with a gallery and a window. The windmill is a private residence and is not open to the public at the present time.

References

{{Windmills and Windpumps of East Anglia Windmills in Norfolk Tower mills in the United Kingdom Grinding mills in the United Kingdom Grade II listed buildings in Norfolk Windmills completed in 1844 North Norfolk Grade II listed windmills 1844 establishments in England