Moulton Windmill facts for kids
The Moulton Windmill is a very tall windmill located in the village of Moulton, in Lincolnshire, England. It stands between the towns of Spalding and Holbeach. Many people say it is the tallest tower mill in the entire United Kingdom.
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Discovering Moulton Windmill
This amazing windmill has nine floors! It stands about 80 feet (24.4 meters) tall to its main structure. If you measure all the way to the top of its special curved roof, called an ogee cap, it reaches almost 100 feet (29.6 meters). With its four large sails working, Moulton Mill is the tallest working windmill in Great Britain. It's also one of the tallest windmills anywhere in the world!
A Look Back in Time
The mill was built around 1822 by a person named Robert King. For many years, it worked hard grinding wheat and other crops into flour. It was a very important part of the local community.
From Wind to Steam
However, on December 20, 1894, a very strong storm hit the mill. The powerful winds badly damaged the sails. Because of this, the sails had to be removed in 1895. After that, a steam engine was put in place to power the mill instead of the wind.
Different families leased and ran the mill over the years. The Biggadike family took over in 1924. They continued to grind small amounts of animal feed until 1995.
Bringing the Mill Back to Life
Moulton Windmill is a very special building. It is listed as a Grade I listed building, which means it's historically very important. Because of this, local people started a big effort to fix it up and make it work again.
The Big Restoration Project
In 2003, the mill was even shown on a TV show called Restoration on BBC2. This helped to get more attention for the project. The restoration project received a large grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Many local fundraising events also helped raise money.
The "Friends of Moulton Mill" group worked very hard. They managed to collect enough money to repair the mill's structure. They also added a brand new white ogee cap. This new cap is huge, weighing 14 tons! You can see it from miles away across the flat Fenland landscape.
Step-by-Step Restoration
The Friends of Moulton Mill group encouraged people to "sponsor" a part of a sail. This helped raise even more money. In March 2007, the mill was able to grind flour again for the first time in many years!
In June 2008, an outside balcony called the reefing gallery was fixed. This balcony is about 40 feet (12 meters) above the ground.
Finally, on November 21, 2011, brand new sails were put onto the mill. This completed the huge restoration project. It took 14 years and nearly £2 million to bring the mill back to life!
Grinding Again!
On April 28, 2013, something amazing happened. The mill ground its first bag of flour using only wind power! This was the first time it had done so in over 100 years.
Visiting the Mill
Today, you can visit Moulton Windmill. There is a café and a shop where you can buy things. The mill also has special access for disabled visitors. This means more people can see some of the mill's amazing inner workings.
