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Nutley Windmill facts for kids

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Nutley Mill
Nutley Windmill.jpg
The mill in 2005
Origin
Grid reference TQ 451 291
Coordinates 51°02′35″N 0°04′05″E / 51.043°N 0.068°E / 51.043; 0.068
Operator(s) Uckfield and District Preservation Society
Year built Early nineteenth century
Information
Purpose Corn mill
Type Open Trestle post mill
No. of sails Four
Type of sails Two Common sails, two Spring sails
Windshaft Cast iron
Winding Tailpole
No. of pairs of millstones Two pairs, arranged Head and Tail

Nutley Windmill is a very old and special windmill in Nutley, East Sussex, England. It's called a post mill because its whole top part can turn to face the wind. This mill has been fixed up and can still work today! It's also a listed building, which means it's an important historical site that is protected.

The Story of Nutley Windmill

Nutley Windmill is believed to have been moved from a place called Kilndown, Goudhurst, Kent around 1817. The first official record of a windmill at Nutley was in 1840. Some of the wood in the mill is even older! Scientists have studied the wood and found that one timber dates back to 1738–1770. The main post is even older, from 1533–1570.

Changes Over Time

In 1870, the mill was painted white and used four simple sails. In the 1880s, the mill got some modern upgrades. Its original wooden shaft, which held the sails, was replaced with a stronger cast-iron one. The simple sails were also replaced with "spring sails," which were more advanced. Bigger millstones were added too. Around this time, the mill was covered in tar, making it look darker. It kept working with wind power until 1908, even though it was getting old and worn out.

In 1928, the owner, Lady Castle Stewart, had the mill supported with brick and steel. This helped the old mill survive until it could be properly fixed up.

Bringing the Mill Back to Life

Restoration work on the windmill began in 1968. It was a big project to make it work again! By 1971, the mill's sails were turning in the wind once more. In 1972, it was even grinding grain again, just like in the old days. In 1975, Lady Castle Stewart gave Nutley Windmill to the Uckfield and District Preservation Society. This group helps to look after and preserve the mill.

The Mill in Pop Culture

Nutley Windmill has even appeared in movies and on TV! It was briefly shown in the 1976 concert film The Song Remains the Same, which featured the famous rock band Led Zeppelin. It was the setting for a fantasy scene with the band's bass and keyboard player, John Paul Jones.

In 1984, one of the mill's wooden arms (called a stock) broke while a children's TV show called Chocky's Children was being filmed there. A new stock was put in just a week later, with help from the TV company. The mill was also damaged during the Great Storm of 1987, which caused over £6,000 worth of damage.

New back steps were added to the mill in 1994 and 1995, paid for by a grant from British Telecom. In 1998, repairs to the mill's base and a special wheel inside allowed the "head stones" (a type of millstone) to be used again for the first time since the mill stopped working. New sails were put on the mill in 2008. Nutley Windmill was even featured on a postage stamp issued by the Royal Mail on June 20, 2017!

How Nutley Windmill Works

Nutley Windmill 2
The windmill with sails closed

Nutley Windmill is an open trestle post mill. This means the main body of the mill, which holds all the machinery, sits on a large wooden frame (the trestle). The entire body can turn on a central post to face the wind.

The mill has four sails: two are called "common sails" and two are "spring sails." These sails are attached to a strong cast iron shaft. To make the mill face the wind, a long wooden pole called a "tailpole" is used to turn the whole structure.

Inside, the mill uses the power from the turning sails to drive two pairs of millstones. These stones are arranged in a special way, called "head and tail." The wooden wheels that power these stones are about 7 feet (2 meters) across. The main body of the mill is about 15 feet (4.5 meters) long and 10 feet (3 meters) wide.

People Who Worked at the Mill

Records show that the land where the windmill stands was set aside in 1836. Over the years, different people lived and worked at Nutley Windmill. These "millers" were in charge of grinding grain into flour.

Here are some of the people who operated the mill:

  • Henry Sitford: From 1836 to 1862.
  • William Wells: Briefly in 1862, and again from 1867 to 1874.
  • Robert Hollands: From 1862 to 1867.
  • William Taylor: From 1874 to 1906.

These millers played an important role in the local community, providing flour for bread and other foods.

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