White Mill is a

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 of

Sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...

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 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 ...

that was built in 1760. The mill has been restored and is open to the public as part of the White Mill Rural Heritage Centre. The museum also includes the miller's cottage, which has been furnished to appear as it did between 1900 and 1939. Other displays in the outbuildings include farming and craft tools,

wheelwright A wheelwright is a Artisan, craftsman who builds or repairs wooden wheels. The word is the combination of "wheel" and the word "wright" (which comes from the Old English word "''wryhta''", meaning a worker - as also in shipbuilding, shipwright ...

and

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

workshops.

History

White Mill was built in 1760. It was marked on Andrews, Drury and Herbert's map of 1769 and the 1819–43

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. The mill was worked by the Stanley family for many years. The mill was last powered by wind in 1926. From then until 1957 it was being powered by a oil engine. The mill was repaired in the 1960s by Vincent Pargeter before he became a professional

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'') ...

. A pair of sails from the demolished

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 Wingham was erected on the mill. The work was initially financed by Pargeter himself but in 1964, 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 Victorian restoration, destructive 'restoration' of ancient bu ...

gave a grant for the purchase of materials to repair the mill. The mill was acquired by Sandwich Borough Council in 1968, and later passed into the ownership of

Kent County Council Kent County Council is a county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Kent in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes the Unitary authorities of England, unitary auth ...

. The White Mill Rural Heritage Centre, a local volunteer group, convened in the early 2010s to restore the mill to functionality. The cap of the mill was detached in 2018 for repairs, and reinstalled in 2023 with an estimated cost of £25,000.

Description

White Mill is a three-storey smock mill on a single-storey brick base. It has four spring sails. The mill is winded by 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 ...

. The mill drives 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 by wind, and a third pair is driven by an engine. Much of the machinery is made of wood, including the brake wheel, wallower, great spur wheel, and stone nuts. The millstones are overdrift.

Gallery

Image:White Mill, Sandwich 2008.JPG, The mill in 2008 Image:White Mill, Sandwich 2008 2.JPG File:Sandwich kent map1945.jpg, Map of Sandwich, 1945, showing the mill. Image:White mill, Sandwich interior1.JPG, Brake wheel and wallower. Image:Sandwich White Mill interior2.JPG, The brake wheel. Image:White mill, Sandwich interior3.JPG, The wallower. Image:White mill, Sandwich interior4.JPG, The stone floor. Image:White mill, Sandwich interior5.JPG, Engine driven stones on the meal floor. Image:White mill, Sandwich interior6.JPG, Great Spur Wheel and engine drive. Image:White mill, Sandwich interior7.JPG, Drive to the engine driven stones. Image:White mill, Sandwich interior8.JPG, Drive from the engine to the mill.

Millers

*Thomas Stanley 1878 *Stanley Brothers *Albert Stanley - 1952 References for above:-

References

External links

White Mill Rural Heritage Centre
- official site

on the mill. {{Kent Windmills Sandwich, Kent Buildings and structures completed in 1760 Windmills completed in the 18th century Windmills in Kent Grinding mills in the United Kingdom Smock mills in England Museums in Dover District Mill museums in England Agricultural museums in England History museums in Kent Octagonal buildings in the United Kingdom