Theageof revolution


were first used to drive millstones for grinding grain in England before the end of the 12th century, and much of what is known about the earliest type of windmill, the post mill, has come from archaeological excavation and documentary research.Most surviving mills, both windmills and watermills, however, are considered to date from the industrial and early modern periods, from about 1750 on. This is certainly true of the mechanical elements. Mills are, essentially, machines, and their


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working parts were subject to frequent repair and replacement, with the result that most surviving mill machinery is 18th or 19th century in date. So, while a relatively comprehensive picture of medieval mills is now available – and a representative selection of windmills that were built or rebuilt during the past 250 years or so still survive – the buildings and machinery that served the grain milling industry of the post-medieval period, in particular the 17th century, have received relatively little attention. This is partly due to a lack of easily recognisable remains, and partly to an acceptance of sometimes unsubstantiated assumptions about the antiquity, or otherwise, of certain mills. In recent years, however, the structures of


some windmills have been examined in intimate detail and, with the added benefit of precise Continues on page 36


Pitstone Green windmill, Buckinghamshire Cornerstone, Vol 32, No 2 2011 33


Worked hard,weather-beaten, moved around,modified, downgraded and patched up – it’s awonder that any earlywindmills survive at all. Yet a handfulwhose origins can be traced back to the 17th century,with some timbers far older, can still be seen.Millwright and leading SPABmills authority MartinWatts introduces them


ver the past 25 years or so much valuable research has been published concerning the economics and technicalities of milling in England during the medieval period.Windmills


JOHN LAWRENCE


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