West Kingsdown Windmill is a

Grade II 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 ...

listed

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 t ...

West Kingsdown West Kingsdown is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England, on the A20 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Swanley, 5.5 miles (9 km) northeast of Sevenoaks and from London. The area The parish was part of Axst ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England, that was built in the early nineteenth century at

Farningham Farningham is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located south-east of Swanley. It has a population of 1,314. History Farningham is believed to be home to Neolithic human occupancy – flint and othe ...

and moved to West Kingsdown in 1880. It is the survivor of a pair of windmills.

History

Post mill

William Coles Finch William Coles Finch (23 October 1864 – 6 June 1944) was a British historian and author of a number of books on Kent-related topics. He is best known for writing ''Watermills and Windmills'', published in 1933 and reprinted in 1976, which is ...

stated that the

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 ...

was originally built at

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...

. However, the mill may have been built on site c.1804, when it was advertised for sale in the ''Kentish gazette'' of 25 September 1804. In 1880, it was joined by the smock mill that was moved from Farningham and which survives today. The post mill was burnt down in May 1909 when a

steam roller A steamroller (or steam roller) is a form of road roller – a type of heavy construction machinery used for leveling surfaces, such as roads or airfields – that is powered by a steam engine. The leveling/flattening action is achieved throug ...

set fire to some straw near the mill and the fire then spread to the mill.

Smock mill

West Kingsdown Windmill was built in the early nineteenth century at Chimham's Farm, Farningham. It was marked on the 1819–20

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

map, Greenwoods map of 1821 and the Farningham Tithe Map of 1840. In 1880, it was moved to West Kingsdown, joining a

that was already there. The post mill burnt down in May 1909. The mill was working by wind until 1928. One of the sails was damaged on 25 December 1929 and the

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 ...

blew off in November 1930. The mill was restored externally in 1960 by Thompson & Son,

Millwright A millwright is a craftsman or skilled tradesman who installs, dismantles, maintains, repairs, reassembles, and moves machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites. The term ''millwright'' (also known as ''industrial mechanic'') ...

s of

Alford, Lincolnshire Alford is a market town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, at the foot of the Lincolnshire Wolds, which form an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The population was recorded as 3,459 in the 2011 United Kin ...

at a cost of £4.400. In 2009, repairs to the weatherboards were made, and the mill was repainted. As of November 2010, it is awaiting the fitting of new sails.

Description

Post mill

Old Mill was a post mill on a single-storey roundhouse. It was winded by a tailpole. It had two ''Spring sails'' and two ''Common Sails'' carried on a cast-iron ''windshaft''.

Smock Mill

West Kingsdown Mill is a four-storey smock mill on a single storey single-storey brick base. There was a stage at first-floor level. It has two ''double Patent sails'' and two ''Common sails'' carried on 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 ...

''windshaft''. The mill is winded by a ''

''. The original fantail had seven blades, but this was replaced with a six-bladed one when the mill was restored in 1960. A seven-bladed fantail has since been fitted. All the machinery remains in the mill, except for the final drive to the ''

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''.

Millers

Post mill

;Sevenoaks *William Knott 1792 - 1814 *Charles Knott - 1864 *William Eames 1864- ;West Kingsdown *Tanner Norton 1880-

Smock mill

;Farningham *Collyer 1826 - 1850 *William Kipping 1840 *W Moore *David Norton *Tanner Norton - 1880 ;West Kingsdown *Tanner Norton 1880 - *Frank Norton *Cork 1929 *Hankin References for above:-

References

External links

Windmill World page
on the mill. {{Kent Windmills Windmills in Kent Grinding mills in the United Kingdom Post mills in the United Kingdom Smock mills in England Grade II listed buildings in Kent Grade II listed windmills Windmills completed in 1880 Octagonal buildings in the United Kingdom