Upthorpe Mill is a

Grade II* listed 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 ...

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 p ...

and

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

at Stanton,

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 Lowes ...

, England, which has been restored to working order.

History

Upthorpe Mill was built in 1751. It was originally built as an open trestle post mill. In 1818 it was moved to its present site. At some point in time the

Common sails Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

were replaced by Double Patent sails, a roundhouse later being added and a

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 ...

fitted to turn the mill into wind automatically. The mill ended its commercial working life on a single pair of sails. It was disused by 1918 and in 1937 was becoming derelict.

Rex Wailes Reginald "Rex" Wailes OBE, FSA, F I Mech E (6 March 1901 – 7 January 1986) was an English engineer and historian who published widely on aspects of engineering history and industrial archaeology, particularly on windmills and watermills. W ...

inspected the mill on behalf of the

Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) (also known as Anti-Scrape) is an amenity society founded by William Morris, Philip Webb, and others in 1877 to oppose the destructive 'restoration' of ancient buildings occurring in ...

and an appeal for funds to restore the mill was launched in 1938. In 1939,

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 ...

Amos Clarke, along with Messrs Hunts of

Soham Soham ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of East Cambridgeshire, in Cambridgeshire, England, just off the A142 between Ely and Newmarket. Its population was 10,860 at the 2011 census. History Archaeology The region between Dev ...

commenced repairs which cost £600. A new side girt was fitted to the left side of the mill and the roundhouse roof was repaired. The tailstones were removed at this time. The intention was to fit the

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

windshaft from Great Mill,

Wickhambrook Wickhambrook is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk (district), West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. It is about south-west from Bury St Edmunds, halfway to Haverhill, Suffolk, Haverhill, off the A143 road. Wickhambroo ...

in place of the existing wooden windshaft and to add a new pair of sails but this work was not done owing to the outbreak of the Second World War. The mill was painted grey to reduce its conspicuousness as a landmark, as it was close to

RAF Shepherds Grove Royal Air Force Shepherds Grove or more simply RAF Shepherds Grove is a former Royal Air Force station located in Suffolk, active from 1943–44 to 1966. Shepherds Grove was host to units of the United States Army Air Forces, Eighth Air Force. Du ...

. The mill was worked during the war, but ceased to be used in 1946 as it was unprofitable. By the late 1960s, the mill was again becoming derelict, and the fantail was carefully dismantled by Chris Hullcoop and Philip Lennard. In 1979, emergency repairs were carried out by Suffolk Mills Group and in 1986 the mill was bought by Richard Duke. Restoration work was carried out and the mill was able to grind again in 1990. In 1993, the mill was bought by Peter Dolman and further restoration work was carried out.

Description

Upthorpe Mill is a post mill on a single-storey roundhouse. It has two pairs of Double Patent sails carried on a wooden windshaft with a cast-iron poll end. This carries a wooden brake wheel with iron segment teeth, driving a cast-iron wallower mounted on a wooden upright shaft. The cast iron great spur wheel drives two pairs of underdrift

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 convex stationary base known as the ''bedstone'' and ...

s. The tail stones were driven by belt. The tail of the mill has been extended to provide room for a wire machine. The eight 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 as "f ...

is mounted on the rear ladder in the Suffolk style and drove both wheels by means of gears and shafts. The main post carries the inscription ''R Rix 1807''.

Millers

*William Bryant 1939–46 *Richard Duke 1990–93 *Peter Dolman 1993–2002 *John Craven 2002–2004 *Dominic Grixti from 2004 References for above:-

Public access

Upthorpe Mill is not open to the public.

References

External links

Windmill World
webpage on Upthorpe Mill. {{Windmills in England Windmills completed in 1751 Industrial buildings completed in 1751 Windmills in Suffolk Post mills in the United Kingdom Grade II* listed buildings in Suffolk Grinding mills in the United Kingdom Scheduled monuments in Suffolk Museums in Suffolk Mill museums in England 1751 establishments in England