St Margaret's Bay 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 ...
on
South Foreland
South Foreland is a chalk headland on the Kent coast of southeast England. It presents a bold cliff to the sea, and commands views over the Strait of Dover. It is centred northeast of Dover and 15 miles south of North Foreland. It includes th ...
, the southeasternmost point of England. It was built in 1929 to generate electricity for the attached house, high on the
White Cliffs of Dover
The White Cliffs of Dover are the region of English coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliff face, which reaches a height of , owes its striking appearance to its composition of chalk accented by streaks of black flint, depo ...
.
History
The mill was built for Sir William Bearswell by Holman's, the
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...
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. It was built to generate electricity and started generating in June 1929.
The mill ceased to generate electricity in 1939, when the
dynamo
"Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, )
A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos employed electromagnets for self-starting by using residual magnetic field left in the iron cores ...
was removed.
[ During the ]Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the mill was occupied by a special branch of the WRNS.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 ...
and repairs to the sails.
Description
St Margaret's Bay Windmill is a three-storey smock mill on a single-storey brick base. It has four patent sails and is winded by a fantail.[ The mill generated electricity via a dynamo and is now used as residential accommodation, a use it has always had.][
]
See also
*South Foreland lighthouse
South Foreland Lighthouses are a pair of Victorian lighthouses on the South Foreland in St. Margaret's Bay, Dover, Kent, England, used to warn ships approaching the nearby Goodwin Sands. There has been a pair of lighthouses at South Foreland s ...
is a few hundred metres away
References
External links
Windmill World page
on the mill
{{Kent Windmills
Windmills in Kent
Smock mills in England
Grade II listed buildings in Kent
Electrical generators
Windmills completed in 1929
Octagonal buildings in the United Kingdom