Beacon Mill, Rottingdean

Rottingdean Windmill

The mill in 2010
Origin
Mill name Beacon Mill
New Mill
Mill location TQ 366 025
50°48′22″N 0°03′47″W / 50.806°N 0.063°W / 50.806; -0.063
Operator(s) Rottingdean Preservation Society
Year built 1802
Information
Purpose Corn mill
Type Smock mill
Storeys Three-storey smock
Base storeys Single-storey base
Smock sides Eight sides
Number of sails Four sails
Type of sails Patent sails
Windshaft Cast iron
Winding Fantail
The great spur wheel on the ground floor of the Rottingdean windmill. The millstones on the floor above are driven from here.
This large wooden gearwheel is mounted atop the Upright shaft and receives drive from the brake wheel which is driven by the windshaft and sails. Sadly, it was cut in half during the fitting of a steel skeleton to assist in supporting the mill.

Beacon Mill or New Mill is a grade II listed[1] smock mill at Rottingdean, Sussex, England which has been restored as a seamark.

History

Beacon Mill, was built in 1802. There are records of an earlier mill on the site, thought to have been a post mill.[2] During the digging of the foundations, a human skeleton was found.[3] The mill was working until 1881[2] and by 1890 was in such bad condition that demolition was considered. In 1905, the Marquis of Abergavenny had the mill repaired, but she was derelict again by the early 1920s. It was 1935 before she was restored again, the millwrighting being done by Neve's of Heathfield and new sails were made by Holman's, the Canterbury millwrights. In 1969, the mill was leaning to the north east, and Hole's, the Burgess Hill millwrights erected a steel frame inside the smock to support the mill, and fitted new sails.[3] The steel framing was extended into the cap in 1974[2]

Description

For an explanation of the various pieces of machinery, see Mill machinery.

Beacon Mill is a three-storey smock mill on a single-storey brick base. It has a Kentish-style cap, and four Patent sails. It originally had a fantail, but this is now missing.[3]

Millers

References for above:-[3]

Culture and Media

Beacon Mill featured on the front cover of the album "Vale Industrial" by Brighton band The Tenderfoot[4]

The mill also featured in the music video for That Old Pair of Jeans by Fatboy Slim.

Public access

Beacon Mill is open to the public from 14:00 to 16:30 on both days of National Mills Weekend, and on the third Sunday of each month from May to September.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "ROTTINGDEAN WINDMILL AT NGR 365 024, NEVILL ROAD (north off), BRIGHTON, BRIGHTON AND HOVE, EAST SUSSEX". English Heritage. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 The Story of the Rottingdean Windmill. Rottingdean: The Rottingdean Preservation Society. 1977. pp. (leaflet).
  3. 1 2 3 4 Brunnarius, Martin (1979). The Windmills of Sussex. Chichester: Philimore. pp. 63–64, 190. ISBN 0-85033-345-8.
  4. ↑ "Rottingdean windmill on album cover". Windmill World. Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
  5. ↑ "Rottingdean Windmill". Sussex Mills Group. Retrieved 19 April 2009.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Beacon Mill, Rottingdean.

Further reading

Hemming, Peter (1936). Windmills in Sussex. London: C W Daniel.  Online version

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