Holgate windmill

The Holgate Windmill or Holgate Windmill is a Dutch tower windmill in Holgate, York , North Yorkshire , England dating back to 1770, which was completely windmill restored from 2003 to 2012 and is York's last remaining windmill.

history

The Holgate windmill with new plaster and cap in November 2009

On December 27, 1768, the miller and mill builder George Waud from Barlow near Selby bought land on a hill north of York, on which he built a tower windmill , named after the area "Holgate Windmill" or "Holgate Windmill". ) was called. Milling began in October 1770. Even then, the mill was located on two important connecting roads in the region, the Acomber and Poppletoner Landstrasse (Acomb Road and Poppleton Road). 1841 the windmill was with three pairs of French quartz millstones and two sifters equipped. In 1858 a fourth pair of millstones made of Derby granite was added to produce fodder. George Waud, his son and grandson of the same name ran the windmill for 71 years until 1851, when they built a house next to the mill. In 1859 a new granary was built and a steam engine with a boiler house was added to make grinding more profitable. Another floor was placed on the conical mill tower. This gave the mill, which was originally not "tapered" but rather conical similar to the Lincolnshire windmills, its current height and shape. Joseph Chapman ran the windmill from 1866 to 1896 as a miller and was probably also the owner of the mill. In 1902 the mill went to Eliza Gutch after his son Charles' death, who was born in the mill. In 1930, a large electric motor was installed, which replaced the 70-year-old steam engine along with the boiler house and chimney, which were demolished. In the same year, the City Council of York had the windmilling stopped and the blades with wind rose dismantled after considerable storm damage to the mill due to gusts of wind from behind. In 1933, grinding with the electric power unit also ended. Thomas Mollett was the last known miller of the Holgatemühle, Eliza Gutch and her family the last known owners. In 1939 she sold the mill to the York Corporation. In 1939 the mill was given a new cap, now painted white. The windmill was included in the series “Grade II listed buildings” in 1954, in 1955 further repairs were made to the canopy, in 1956 the five remaining breast pieces / rods were also removed. The black mill tower with grinder, cap and fivefold vane head remained. In the meantime, the city of York had grown up to the windmill, so that today it stands in a roundabout instead of a wide hallway in the city area.

After unsuccessful earlier basic restorations, the Holgate Windmill Preservation Society ("The Holgate Windmill Preservation Society" with over 600 members) was founded in 2001 to completely restore the mill. The mill doors now opened to the public for the first time in 70 years. The elaborate planning began in 2003, and in 2006 the first restoration work was carried out on the now 236-year-old structure: The mill tower was scaffolded to remove the old black tar paint and plaster. The exterior was given a new lime plaster, new oak doors and windows, plus a high-voltage connection. Furthermore, the old cap with wing shaft (English windshaft), support beam (English shears), cam wheel (English brake wheel) and five-fold wing shaft head (English (sail) cross) was lifted by crane, as was the broken iron crown ring (turntable , Engl. curb ring) with the rotten wooden support frame. In 2007 most of the exterior work (plastering) was completed, a new wooden frame with a wreath was inserted, the tower opening was sealed against rain, and the scaffolding dismantled. In 2008 a lot of interior work was done, in 2009 a toilet was installed, the newly sharpened stones, the wooden casing (handmade paper) of the stones, the handrails in the mill and on the ladders. A new, white cap with a tower ball , inside a time capsule, comb wheel, wing shaft, support beam and five-fold iron wing shaft head with the compass rose holder was put on by crane on November 28, 2009. In 2010 the mill received, among other things, newly sharpened millstones and their black taring. Five new blades were installed on December 20, 2011, followed in 2012 by the double slats and the eight-fold wind rose, which is over four meters in diameter. In April 2012, the five-fold wing cross turned by wind power for the first time in 82 years. The official opening of the fully restored and windmillable windmill took place on June 23, 2012 with a large public participation.

The millers of the Holgatemühle

George Waud 1770–1792 (builder)
George Waud (son) 1792–1811
George Waud (grandson) 1811-1851 (John Musham mortgagee since 1841, then mill owner since 1851)
John Thackwray 1851–1855 (John Musham from 1851 to 1855 mill owner, Joseph Peart from 1855 to 1866)
George & Joseph Chapman (brothers) 1858–1860
William Bean Horseman 1860-1866
Joseph Chapman 1866-1896 (probably also owner of the mill)
Charles Chapman (son of Joseph Chapman) 1896–1902
Herbert Warters 1902–1922 (Gutch family has owned the mill since 1902)
Thomas Mollett 1922-1933

description

The Holgate windmill is a Dutch tower mill with a fivefold winged cross and a strongly conical mill tower with a cylindrical tower end, built from brick bricks with a black tar coating, similar to the slimmer Lincolnshire windmills. It originally carried five simple sail gate wings, later wings with Captain Stephen Hooper's patented furling sail blades (invented in 1789; complex sail furling system in which the sails are rolled around a rod to reduce the area, steered from the mill), which were later rolled out by double patented wings according to Sir William Cubitt (invented 1807; by rods and springs via the so-called spider in front of the wave head remote-controlled lamellar system) were replaced. Since 1859, the mill has had five floors (originally four) thanks to an increase: flour floor, stone floor, bulk floor, dust floor (sack floor) and cap floor. Since then it is the only tower windmill to be "waisted" due to the bricked-up cylindrical tower end. Originally the black tarred mill also had a black onion cap and compass rose, since 1939 a white one. Five double patent wings (the lamellas of different lengths are on both sides of the rods) are on a fivefold wing wave head ("Lincolnshire Cross"): All wings, especially five, six and eight, lie in one plane in contrast to the two on top of one another Pairs of blades in two levels with four blades) and cast blade shaft mounted. The mill has four pairs of millstones, three pairs of French (French freshwater quartz , highest quality, from La Ferté-sous-Jouarre near Châlons-en-Champagne (Châlons-sur-Marne)) and a pair of granite millstones from Derbyshire . It has been completely restored since June 2012 and can be windmilled again for the first time since 1930.

Mill data

Tower height: 18 m (59 ft)
Canopy Height: 23.3 m (76 ft)
Total height: 30.7 m (101 ft)
Mill wing span: 22 m (72 ft)
Weight of the five-fold wing cross: 3.5 t
Base inside width: 8.53 m (28 ft)
Grinds: 4 (3 French, 1 granite)

Individual evidence

↑ Restoration of the windmill (eng.) ( Memento from August 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
^ History of the Windmill (Eng.) ( Memento from July 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
↑ technical description of the windmill (eng.) ( Memento from 7 July 2010 in the Internet Archive )

literature

Richard Green & Bob Anderton: Holgate Windmill . Holgate Windmill Preservation Society, York 2003
Jenny Hartland: Holgate Windmill . Holgate Windmill Preservation Society, York 2012
Alan Whitworth: Yorkshire Windmills Through Time . Amberley Publishing, Stroud (Glos) 2011; ISBN 1-445606054

Web links

Commons : Holgate Windmill - Collection of images, videos and audio files

[1] Restoration of the windmill (eng.) ( Memento from August 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

[2] History of the Windmill (Eng.) ( Memento from July 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive )

[3] technical description of the windmill (eng.) ( Memento from 7 July 2010 in the Internet Archive )