Charing Windmill is a Grade II listed[1] smock windmill, now converted to a house, on Charing Hill in Kent in southeast England. It is sometimes known as Field Mill, but that name was also used by a watermill in Charing.
| Charing Windmill | |
|---|---|
 The converted mill. | |
 | |
| Origin | |
| Mill name | Field Mill |
| Grid reference | TQ 957 503 |
| Coordinates | 51°13′1″N 0°48′8″E / 51.21694°N 0.80222°E |
| Year built | Early nineteenth century |
| Information | |
| Purpose | Corn milling |
| Type | Smock mill |
| Storeys | Three-storey smock |
| Base storeys | One storey |
| Smock sides | Eight-sided |
| No. of sails | Four |
| Type of sails | Two Common sails and two Spring sails |
| Windshaft | Cast iron |
| Winding | Fantail |
| Fantail blades | Six |
| No. of pairs of millstones | Three pairs |
| Other information | Was painted white when a working mill, tarred black since conversion to a house. |
History
editCharing Mill was built in the early 19th century. It was marked on the 1819–43 Ordnance Survey map and also on Greenwood's 1821 map of Kent. It was working until 1891, when the business was transferred to Field Watermill,[2] although two new common sails had been erected on the mill by Holman's of Canterbury the year before. The sails were removed in 1917 after being damaged in a gale.[3]
Description
editCharing Mill is a three-storey smock mill on a single-storey base. It has a Kentish-style cap. It had two common sails and two spring sails and was winded by a fantail.[3] The cast-iron windshaft carries a wooden brake wheel driving a wooden wallower, carried on a wooden upright shaft. The wooden clasp arm great spur wheel survives, but the three pairs of millstones have been removed.[2] The mill was originally painted white overall, but the body of the mill was creosoted in 1969.[4]
Millers
editReferences
edit- ^ Historic England. "Charing Windmill, Bowl Road, Charing, Ashford, Kent (1299636)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 June 2008.
- ^ a b c West, Jenny (1973). The Windmills of Kent. London: Charles Skilton Ltd. pp. 28–30. ISBN 0-284-98534-1.
- ^ a b c Coles Finch, William (1933). Watermills and Windmills. London: C W Daniel Company. p. 177.
- ^ "View up towards cap. No sweeps or stocks". The Mills Archive Trust. Retrieved 14 April 2008.
- ^ "Directory of Kent Mill People". The Mills Archive Trust. Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2008.
External links
edit- Windmill World page on the mill.