- West Kingsdown Windmill
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West Kingsdown Post Mill 
The windmills in 1906Origin Mill name Old Mill Year built Late C19th Information Purpose Corn mill Type Post mill Roundhouse storeys Single storey roundhouse Number of sails Four sails Type of sails Two Common sails and two Spring Sails Windshaft Cast iron Winding Tailpole Year lost 1909 Other information Moved from Tubs Hill, Sevenoaks between 1864 and 1880 West Kingsdown Smock Mill 
The surviving smock millOrigin Mill location Pells Lane, West Kingsdown, Kent Grid reference TQ 582 623 Operator(s) Kent County Council Year built 1880 Information Purpose Corn mill Type Smock mill Storeys Four storey smock Base storeys Single storey base Smock sides Eight sided Number of sails Four Type of sails Two Common sails and two double Patent sails Windshaft Cast iron Winding Fantail Fantail blades Seven blades Number of pairs of millstones Three pairs Other information Moved from Farningham in 1880 West Kingsdown Windmill is a Grade II listed[1] smock mill in West Kingsdown, Kent, England that was built in the early nineteenth century at Farningham and moved to West Kingsdown in 1880. It is the survivor of a pair of windmills.
Contents
History
Post mill
The post mill was originally built at Sevenoaks. It was built c1792 when miller William Knott leased a piece of ground "with liberty to set up a windmill" and "to pull down and carry away the same". In 1814, Knott bought the property, consisting a house and the "windmill erected by the said William Knott" and 3 acres (1.2 ha) of land for £1000. The mill was standing in 1864 when it was leased by J F Austen to William Eames, Miller at a rate of £13. 15.s 0d quarterly.[2]
The mill had been moved to West Kingsdown by 1880, when it was joined by the smock mill that was moved from Farningham and which survives today. It was burnt down in May 1909 when a steam roller 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 Greenwoods map of 1821 and the Farningham Tithe Map of 1840. In 1880, it was moved to West Kingsdown, joining a post mill 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 blew off in November 1930.[2] The mill was restored externally in 1960 by Thompson & Son, Millwrights of Alford, Lincolnshire[3] at a cost of £4.400.[4] 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.[5]
Description
For a description of the machinery, see Mill machinery.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
The Fantail, January 2009
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 windshaft. The mill is winded by a fantail. The original fantail had seven blades,[2] 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 millstones.[3]
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:-[2][3][6]See also
- Wikipedia books: Windmills in Kent
References
- ^ "KINGSDOWN MILL, PELLS LANE, WEST KINGSDOWN, SEVENOAKS, KENT". English Heritage. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?pid=2&id=418642. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
- ^ a b c d Coles Finch, William (1933). Watermills and Windmills. London: C W Daniel Company. pp. p230, 273.
- ^ a b c West, Jenny (1973). The Windmills of Kent. London: Charles Skilton Ltd.. pp. p52–54. SBN 284-98534-1.
- ^ Brown, R J (1976). Windmills of England. London: Robert Hale. pp. p112–113. ISBN 0 7091 5641 3.
- ^ Cumming, Rob (2010). "Mill News". Cant Post (Kent: Kent Mills Society) (Number 2): p7.
- ^ "Directory of Kent Mill People". The Mills Archive Trust. http://www.millarchive.com/kent/millpeople/Kent%20Mill%20People.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
External links
- Windmill World page on the mill.
Categories:- Windmills in Kent
- Grinding mills
- Agricultural buildings
- Post mills
- Smock mills
- Grade II listed buildings in Kent
- Grade II listed windmills
- 1790s architecture
- 1810s architecture
- Buildings and structures completed in 1880
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