Marsh Mill
Marsh Mill | |
---|---|
Origin | |
Mill location | Thornton, Lancashire |
Grid reference | SD 335 426 |
Year built | 1794 |
Information | |
Purpose | Corn mill |
Type | Tower mill |
Storeys | Five |
No. of sails | Four |
Type of sails | Patent sails |
Windshaft | Cast iron |
Winding | fantail |
Fantail blades | Eight |
No. of pairs of millstones | Four |
Marsh Mill is a tower windmill in Thornton, Lancashire, England. It was built in 1794 by Ralph Slater for local landowner Bold Hesketh. It was functioning until the 1920s and has been fully restored. It is noted as a good example of a complete English windmill and has been designated a Grade II* listed building by English Heritage.[1]
History
Marsh Mill was commissioned by local landowner Bold Hesketh of Rossall Hall and built in 1794 by Fylde millwright Ralph Slater.[2][3] The marshy area the mill was built on had been drained by Hesketh.[4] Slater was a well-known millwright in the area; he also built mills at Pilling and Clifton.[5] The mill was initially used to grind different grades of flour.[6] From the early 19th century, it was used to grind meal for farm animal feed.[4][6] In the 19th century, the original sails of lattice frames with cloth were replaced with a four blade fantail.[1][6] In 1896, patent sails were added.[1] The mill stopped working in the 1920s.[7] From 1928–1935 Marsh Mill functioned as a café.[4] In 1930, two women who intended to buy the mill fell and died while inspecting it when the fantail staging collapsed when they stood on it.[4]
It was designated a Grade II* listed building by English Heritage on 24 March 1950.[1] The Grade II* designation—the second highest of the three grades—is for "particularly important buildings of more than special interest".[8] Beginning in 1965, a 20 year restoration took place by the Marsh Mill Preservation Society.[5] Further restoration was completed in 1990, bringing the machinery to full working order.[1][4] It has been described as the "best preserved" and "finest" windmill in the north-west of England.[5][9][6] English Heritage have called it "an exceptionally complete example of a tower windmill in a national context".[1]
Structure
Marsh mill is built of rendered brick; it is more than 70 feet (21 m) tall and has five storeys.[6][10] The tower tapers and it has plain square windows.[5] There is a two-storey kiln house attached.[1] The ground floor and first floor are storage areas and have drying rooms.[6] The second floor is the meal floor.[1] It contains corn-dressing machinery.[6] At the second floor, there is an external wooden stage that encircles the tower and is supported by stone corbels at the first floor level.[1] This staging gives access to the sails.[6]
The third floor is the stone floor, which contains four sets of millstones.[1] The top floor is the dust floor.[6] Like many Fylde windmills, the tower is topped with a boat-shaped wooden cap.[1][6] It now has a "Lees Flyer" fantail.[5]
See also
References
- Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Marsh Mill", National Heritage List for England, English Heritage, retrieved 17 June 2011
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(help) - ^ Rennison, pp. 216–17
- ^ Fields, pp. 150–51
- ^ a b c d e "Marsh Mill — A Brief History — Introduction", wyrebc.gov.uk, Wyre Borough Council, retrieved 17 June 2011
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(help) - ^ a b c d e Hartwell & Pevsner, pp. 667–68
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bilsborough, p. 48
- ^ Ashmore, p. 225
- ^ "Listed Buildings", National Heritage List for England, English Heritage, retrieved 13 June 2011
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(help) - ^ Brown, p. 118
- ^ "Marsh Mill — Introduction", wyrebc.gov.uk, Wyre Borough Council, retrieved 17 June 2011
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(help)
- Sources
- Ashmore, Owen (1982), The Industrial Archaeology of North-west England, Manchester University Press ND, ISBN 0719008204
- Bilsborough, Norman (1989), The Treasures of Lancashire, North West Civic Trust, ISBN 0901347418
- Brown, R. J. (1976), Windmills of England, Hale, ISBN 0709156413
- Fields, Kenneth (1998), Lancashire Magic & Mystery: Secrets of the Red Rose County, Sigma, ISBN 1850586063
- Hartwell, Clare; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2009) [1969]. Lancashire: North. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300126670.
- Rennison, Robert William (1996), Civil Engineering Heritage: Northern England, Thomas Telford, ISBN 0727725181
External links
- Media related to Marsh Mill at Wikimedia Commons