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FAMILY GUIDEBOOK WITH CHILDREN’S ACTIVITIES IN A PULL-OUT CENTRE SECTION
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WILTON WINDMILL
The only working windmill in the Wessex region, Wilton Windmill is on the top of a hill in the heart of the North Wessex Downs.
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Children can win a badge if they complete the mouse hunt game!
WELCOME 2
Welcome to Wilton Windmill
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igh above the village of Wilton, in the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, 9 miles south-east of Marlborough in Wiltshire, Wilton Windmill is the only working windmill in Wessex. We mill about twelve times each year, and our stone-ground wholemeal flour is for sale in the Shepherd’s Hut Shop in the grounds of the Mill. It is also available from four local shops shown on page 25. The Mill is owned by Wiltshire Council but run entirely by volunteers from The Wilton Windmill Society. Please help secure its future by making a contribution in the donation box by the gate as you leave. We hope you enjoy your visit! Your feedback is always welcome.
Children’s activities pull-out centre section
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his guide also has a pull-out centre section with puzzles and games for children, including a Mouse Hunt – during your tour, you can search for two coloured mice hidden on each floor. (Do please ask to borrow a pencil if you need one.) If you spot them all you win a Wonderful Wilton Windmill badge. You can collect your badge from The Shepherd’s Hut Shop after your tour. There is also a Word Game, Mouse Maze and Crossword that could be done when you get home. WILTON WINDMILL – Family tour companion guide book and children’s activities pull-out
Writers: Charles Baxter, Peter Hussey, Nick Baxter, Peter Lemon Illustrator: Charles Baxter Photographers: Front cover – Ridgeway Press, Page 2 – Phil Churchill. Page 9 – Peter Jackson. Page 13 – Lucy Charman. Page 20 – Phil Churchill. Page 23 – Lee Brant and Ridgeway Press. Page 24 – Lucy Charman. Page 26 – Jon Bastin, Kit Logan Photography, Richard Walker, Ridgeway Press. Page 28 – Damian Davis. Page 30 – Lucy Pringle. Back cover – Susie Brew. Mouse hunt – Phil Churchill. Word search – David Willcocks. Games and crossword compiler: Charles Baxter Designed and printed by: Ridgeway Press www.ridgewaypress.co.uk Thanks to: Kevin Challen, John Talbot, Belinda Talbot, Sarah Carreck, Simon Hobden
The only working windmill in Wessex – WILTON WINDMILL
CONTENTS & OPENING TIMES
The history p4 Restoration p6 Tour – The sails and fantail p8 Tour – The ground floor p11 Tour – The cap and dust floor p12 Tour – The bin floor p14 Cutaway view p16 Tour – The stone floor p18 Tour – The spout floor p20 2017 Sail restoration p23 The grain p24 Our flour p25 The history of windmills p26 The life of the miller p28 Walks and local attractions p30 Get involved p31
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HISTORY 4
Wilton Windmill: Its history, working life and restoration The Windmill was built in 1821 when the new Kennet and Avon Canal was constructed. It was needed as an alternative to milling using water-power.
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ater from the old river Bedwyn was used to fill the canal leaving five local watermills with insufficient water. Wilton Windmill milled flour for local farmers for over 93 years until 1914. After The Great War, the Potter family of millers finally decided to close it. The Windmill lay derelict until 1976 when, after its successful restoration, it began milling again. We are still milling and showing visitors around the mill 40 years on. It was constructed of brick in 1821 by ‘an eminent millwright upon a modern and most improved principle’. It was ‘state of the art’, employing all the latest developments in windmill technology. Its machinery was almost entirely made of cast iron and was, according to a contemporary report, ’universally admitted to be of a very superior construction’. A 60-year lease on the Windmill along with an acre of adjoining land was established on 1st February 1822. In 1828 the lease was put up for sale by William Edwards, ‘mealman’. The Windmill then had a set of four
‘patent’ sails and three pairs of stones allowing for the milling of considerable quantities of flour. In 1841 John Barnes, aged 20, was the miller, and in 1851 he was employing two men. In 1861 John was helped by his 25-year-old nephew, George Barnes. In 1871, William Barnes, another of John’s nephews, and Jesse Buckingham, were millers. Thomas Griffiths lived in the adjacent Windmill Cottage and was miller between 1891 and 1901. The Windmill was disused in the early 1920s and became derelict.
WILTON WINDMILL – Family tour companion guide book and children’s activities pull-out
OPENING TIMES
Tuesday - Friday 9:30 - 5pm Saturday 9 - 5pm Closed Sunday & Monday
On A338 Collingbourne Road, Burbage
Email: marrgreenfarm@btinternet.com
Tel: 07900 952152
The only working windmill in Wessex – WILTON WINDMILL
RESTORATION
In January 1972 Wiltshire Historic Buildings Trust started to restore the Windmill to as close as possible to its original 1821 condition.
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avid Lemon and Tony Gilbert persuaded Wiltshire County Council to buy the derelict Mill from Alistair Buchanan in 1971. Their aim was to ensure its long term future by restoring it to a working windmill. A public appeal was made for funds, and, as well as Wiltshire County Council, both the Historic Buildings Council and the Marlborough and Ramsbury District Council contributed to the £25,833 full restoration costs. The restoration took four years and was carried out by David Nicholls, who very kindly stepped in after Derek Ogden, the previous millwright, emigrated to America.
David Nicholls’ memory of his restoration of Wilton Windmill: The mill components had been removed to Derek’s workshop at Great Alne where he constructed the new cap and refitted the original iron ribs as well as the fantail. The cast-iron brake wheel and the wallower were in good condition and I arranged for everything to be transported from Warwickshire back to Wilton. Work at Wilton commenced with my team of four millwrights rebuilding the cap frame, the cap and the fantail and its stage during the hot summer of 1975. Working on Wilton Windmill in pleasant summer conditions was fine, but when it came to working late into the evening, in the dark, in a blizzard in freezing conditions, with limited facilities for forging components, l wondered what l had taken on. One of the requirements of our project was to obtain a good pair of French Burr millstones, and I was recommended to contact the Potter brothers at Ecchinswell Watermill. Reg, Mont and Clarence Potter later told me that their grandfather had been the last miller at Wilton when it closed in the 1920’s. Mont dressed the stones ready for the first day’s milling (by Peter Lemon and Fred Scammel) on 21 March 1976. I have now retired and handed my business over to Owlsworth IJP Ltd under the direction of Paul Sellwood. He shows such dedication and I know the future of the mill will be assured because it is the continued ongoing maintenance and care that is so critical to any working structure.
WILTON WINDMILL – Family tour companion guide book and children’s activities pull-out
RESTORATION 7
Top: The sails, cap and fantail removed. You can see the wallower in the centre and the rollers on which the cap turns. Centre: David Nicholls and his team of millwrights in front of the nearly completed cap. Above: Reconstruction of the cap frame made ready for replacement of the windshaft and brakewheel. Right: Removing the cap with a giant crane.
TOUR – The sails and fantail
A tour to the top of the Windmill We start our tour outside with a look at the sails, fantail and cap. These are the parts that rotate so that the four sails of the windmill always face directly into the wind.
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o achieve enough power to turn the Millstones, the wind speed needs to be around 18 miles per hour. The top of the Windmill is called the Cap. The white Cap, the four sails and the Fantail all turn together on 24 rollers to face the wind. If the wind changes direction, the Fantail (the little propeller at the back) catches the sideways wind, and this makes a set of gears turn. These gears move the whole top and the Sails (all of which weigh 15 tons). They do this automatically. Each sail is slightly twisted like a propeller blade and they should ideally rotate at about 15rpm. There are two types of sail on our
windmill: Common Sails which have been in use in Northern Europe since medieval times, and Patent Sails, invented in 1819. The Common Sails look like wide ladders and have canvas covers (like curtains) drawn across them. They give us lots of power but the windmill must be stopped when they need adjusting. The two more modern Patent Sails have built-in shutters that can be opened and closed like window blinds. While milling they can be adjusted by pulling the chain hanging below the Fantail staging.
WILTON WINDMILL – Family tour companion guide book and children’s activities pull-out
TOUR – Sails and Fantail 9
The sails and the fantail The image behind is a detailed view showing the two different types of sail. The common sail is above and gives us lots of power. The patent sail is below and this gives us the ability to adjust for the wind strength when the sails are turning. The inset photo shows a detail of the fantail and its staging. When this is turning the whole cap is turning to face the wind. The only working windmill in Wessex – WILTON WINDMILL
venuesandeventsint.com l info@vande.co.uk l +44 (0) 1793 792 200
WILTON WINDMILL – Family tour companion guide book and children’s activities pull-out
TOUR – The ground floor
The grain comes into the Windmill and goes straight up to the top. Our visitors follow the same route to the top and down again.
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round floor, Dust floor, Bin floor, Stone floor, Spout Floor and then back to the Ground floor again. When we want to mill we first carry the sacks of grain in through the front door. We don’t have to carry them up the steep stairs as this is done by the power of the wind using the Sack Hoist. A rope passes through four trapdoors down from the top of the Windmill. This rope is wound onto a wooden drum located high up on the Dust floor. When the wind is turning the sails, this drum can be turned automatically so that the sacks are lifted up through the Trapdoors. If you listen while this is done you can hear each Trapdoor slam shut after the sack has passed through. We want the sack to stop on the bin floor so once we’ve heard three bangs we know it’s arrived. The Ground Floor of Wilton Windmill also has several FUN FACT The saying: Come wall displays showing to a grinding halt – more about the history originates from: if the and restoration. millstones ground too
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Ground floor
close while the wind was dying, the mill would ‘come to a grinding halt’
The only working windmill in Wessex – WILTON WINDMILL
TOUR – The cap and dust floor 12
You can tell the direction the wind is blowing by looking at which way the Windmill sails are facing.
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he Cap turns so that the sails always face the wind. It rotates on 24 rollers. The Sack Hoist system can also be seen on this top floor. However, the main thing you see is the huge Brakewheel on the Windshaft and the first set of gears. The Sails are attached to the Windshaft which is attached to the Brakewheel. The Brakewheel turns the Wallower gear and this is mounted on the Vertical Shaft. To make the Sails turn fast enough for milling, Wilton Windmill needs a strong wind of at least 18mph. If we set the sails correctly they should turn at about 15
Dust floor
Left: You can see the sack hoist rope is wound round the wooden drum. This can be turned when the sails are rotating. Above right: The brakewheel and the wallower. Main: The Windmill on the hill in summer. WILTON WINDMILL – Family tour companion guide book and children’s activities pull-out
TOUR – The cap and dust floor 13
revolutions per minute (rpm). The gearing system means that the Wallower turns at about 45rpm, and a set of gears lower down, the Great Spurwheel and Stone nuts, drive the Millstones at about 120 rpm. FUN FACT There is a BrakeThe saying: The daily grind – band going right round originates from: The the outside of the repetitive nature of Brakewheel that can be milling led to the tightened. This slows or concept of ‘the daily grind’ or nowadays a stops the sails turning very boring job. when necessary.
TThe only working windmill in Wessex – WILTON WINDMILL
TOUR – The bin floor
The grain flows from the bins, down a chute, ready to be milled on the stone floor below.
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Bin floor
FUN FACT The saying: Wait your turn – originates from: A farmer might have to wait for days until the windmill would ‘turn’ to grind his grain.
ot much happens on the bin floor. Grain is stored here in bins. With the aid of a rope, the sacks of grain are lifted from ground level to this floor using the sack hoist. The sacks are opened and the grain is poured into one of the bins. The grain then slides down a chute to the floor below. At Wilton Windmill, we usually pour several sacks at a time into the bin, allowing us to mill for an hour or so, before more is needed. The most commonly used grain for making flour is wheat. By the time our wheat arrives, it will have been threshed and cleaned to remove the stalks and chaff. What’s left is the whole grain. At Wilton, we only produce stoneground wholemeal flour. It is as nutritious as possible and tastes wonderful. Bread is a staple food, long regarded as an essential element of our diet. Even so, throughout the centuries, it has been adulterated for profit. We are lucky to live in an era when flour and bread is pure and clean.
WILTON WINDMILL – Family tour companion guide book and children’s activities pull-out
CLEY WINDMILL
A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE ON THE NORFOLK COAST “We settled into our lovely tower room before pre-dinner drinks on the lawn, looking out over the reeds and marshes to the sea. In the distance we heard a curlew and we knew this was something special”
Book now at www.cleywindmill.co.uk or call 01263 740209 B&B
Dinner
Weddings
House parties
Self-Catering
Cley Windmill, Cley-next-the-Sea, Holt, Norfolk NR25 7RP.
24 rollers on which the cap turns
Wind shaft
Fantail
FUN FACT One whole grain of wheat makes over 20,000 particles of flour. It takes around 350 ears of wheat to make enough flour for one medium loaf of bread.
Dust floor
Common sails (x2)
Cap
A sail is moved to the bottom. The brake is applied and one then has to climb the sail to draw the canvas across. The canvas is then tied back using ropes.
Wallower
Brakewheel
Sackhoist
All the gears inside the windmill have one gearwheel with metal teeth meshing with another one that has wooden teeth. Your guide will tell you 4 good reasons for this.
Patent sails (x2)
See inside the Windmill and find out what happens on each floor
Children’s activities pull-out
Mouse hunt 1 2 Bin floor 1 2
Dust cap
Bin floor
Stone floor
Stone floor 1 2
Spout floor
Ground floor
Spout floor
Ground floor
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Claim your badge from the Shepherd’s Hut shop when you find them all.
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On each floor of the Windmill two different coloured mice are hiding. Find ONDERF them all and write down which W colours are on each floor.
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Children’s activities pull-out
WOrds game
SUPER
GREAT
GOOD
FAIR
Try to make as many FOUR LETTER words as possible from the 13 letters below. Each letter may only be used once in each word. There are at least 224 possible words. Answers are on the Windmill website
Children’s activities pull-out
a g e z ma
Can you draw a line through the maze to help Mr Mouse into the Windmill? You can only go through the gaps in the lines. The answer is on the Windmill website
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s ’ e s u o Mr M me
Children’s activities pull-out
Six biplanes fill the sky above the Windmill for the local Scouts ‘WW1 Commemoration and Remembrance Day’ in 2014
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VAT FANTAIL MILLSTONE SPOUT SAIL SACKHOIST HOPPER MILLER BRAKEWHEEL TOWER DAMSEL CAP HORSE WALLOWER SPURWHEEL
Can you find the fifteen words on the right in the grid of letters? They may be arranged forwards, backwards, up or down.
WORD SEARCH
Gallery
There are four sets of steps (steep ladders) to climb to get right up to the top floor.
Sack collecting the meal (flour)
Spout
The picture shows a bedstone that doesn’t rotate. On top it would have a runner stone that rotates at about 120 rpm. The grain is milled between the two.
The mill stones
Ground floor
Bin floor
Stone floor
Spout floor
Bins
A sack of grain is just disappearing up through one of the trapdoors. It only takes about a minute to lift them all the way to the bin floor.
Trapdoors on each floor
Great spur wheel
Inside this wooden box (or Vat) are the millstones. Above is the horse, hopper and chute. Behind is a special crane used to lift the stones.
Shoe and damsel
Hopper
Vertical drive shaft
TOUR – The stone Floor
After leaving the bin floor the grain flows down to the stone floor where the milling process takes place.
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he stone floor is where the grain is actually milled. The grain slides down the chute, from the bins on the floor above, into the hopper: a container that tapers towards the bottom and works in a similar way to a funnel. The hopper empties the grain into a slanting, wide wooden tray called the shoe. The damsel, a piece of metal with three or four bumps, rotates hitting the shoe, making it vibrate quite fast. The vibration causes the grain to flow slowly into the hole in the centre of the millstone, called the eye of the millstone. The grain enters the eye and flows out round the edge as flour. The bottom millstone, which is slightly convex to help the flour move to the edges, is called the bedstone and it stays stationary. The top stone, which is slightly
Stone floor
WILTON WINDMILL – Family tour companion guide book and children’s activities pull-out
FUN FACT The saying: Keep your nose to the grindstone – If set incorrectly, millstones could grind too hot and ruin the flour. The miller kept his “nose to the grindstone” to detect any burning smell.
Grain in
1. Hopper 2. Shoe 3. Crook string 4. Shoe handle 5. Damsel 6. Eye 7. Runner stone 8. Bedstone 9. Rynd 10. Mace 11. Stone spindle 12. Millstone support 13. Wooden beam 14. Case or Vat
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Meal (flour) out
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Millstones turned on stone spindle from below
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The only working windmill in Wessex – WILTON WINDMILL
TOUR – The stone floor
concave and rotates at about 120rpm, is called the runner stone. A small brush attached to the runner stone FUN FACT sweeps the flour down another The saying: Rule of chute called the spout. thumb – To test the Both stones consist of quality of the flour, the miller would take a segments of a hard quartz pinch of it between his stone called French Burr thumb and finger. If too which have been cemented coarse, the flour would and bound together with iron be ground again. bands. They are patterned on the milling side with large grooves called furrows and smaller ones called feathering or cracking. These grooves provide a cutting edge and help channel the flour towards the edges of the stones. The patterns are dressed (recut) about every 100 hours. The millstones must never touch during milling.
Top: The Vat is a six-sided wooden box and inside are the two Millstones. On top is the Horse, Shoe and the Hopper. Right: A cut-away view of two millstones. Bottom: All the parts showing how the grain (yellow arrows), flows inside.
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TOUR – The spout floor 20
No longer grain, the flour flows to this floor down the spout (a long chute) that gives this floor its name. The three main adjustments to the mill are all done here.
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bove your head on the spout floor you can see the great spur wheel. This is turned from the vertical drive shaft and it turns the stone nuts, which turn the runner stone. Flour comes down the spout and collects in sacks ready for bagging up in 1.5kg paper bags for sale. The miller tests the quality of the flour by rubbing the flour flowing from the spout between his fingers and thumb - the origin of the phrase ‘rule of thumb’. The miller can then adjust the windmill in only three ways: 1) He can adjust the sails to get the speed up or down to, ideally, about 15rpm. 2) He can adjust the angle of the shoe to pour more or less grain into the millstones. 3) He can very slightly adjust the gap (or nip as millers used to call it) between the bedstone and the runner stone, which makes the flour finer or coarser. This is
WILTON WINDMILL – Family tour companion guide book and children’s activities pull-out
TOUR – The spout floor
done by carefully turning the tentering screw to lower or raise the runner stone. This tiny adjustment is called tentering. Also on this floor is the miller’s door, leading onto a wooden platform called the gallery, which allows the miller to set and adjust the sails or stop them at the end of a milling day.
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Spout floor Above: The Gallery steps leading up to the Spout Floor door. It is from this platform that the sails are tended and adjusted. From here one can see for several miles in almost all directions. Below: A view of the Spout Floor. Our two helpers show the sort of clothes that would have been worn around the time when the Windmill was built.
The only working windmill in Wessex – WILTON WINDMILL
THE CUTTING ROOM est 1999
The Cutting Room is a independent hair salon located within an idyllic village setting. Based in the old reading room, its’ low beams and country charm all serve to create a unique and relaxing experience. The Cutting Room’s attention to service and detail has made us the hairdressers of choice for many. We are proud to use the fabulous range of organic hair care products and treatments from Kevin Murphy.
Open for appointments Monday – Saturday T: 01672 870222 W: www. thecuttingroombedwyn.co.uk Church Street, Great Bedwyn, Marlborough SN8 3PQ
2017 SAIL RESTORATION
Replacing the sails in March 2017
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The sails had served us well for nearly 30 years even though they had been at the full mercy of the wind and rain.
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uring the winter of 2016 - 17 they were removed and totally restored. This was done by Paul Sellwood and his team at IJP who are the millwrights employed by Wiltshire Council. The pictures show the newly restored sails being refitted. Within days the Windmill was milling grain again and we were delivering it to all our shops and customers.
THE GRAIN
Where does the flour for our bread come from? About 10,000 years ago man started growing crops and eating food made from grains.
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ne of the major problems we had to solve was how to turn small hard grains into edible, nourishing food: bread. First, we used human energy to beat the grains with a pestle and mortar. Later came systems of crushing – or ‘milling’ – grains between stones, using animal energy to move
stones. Much later we used water and wind power to turn them. You can see in our photos that David Lemon’s New Holland and Class Combines are busy harvesting a beautiful crop of milling wheat. Most will be milled by the national bread making companies and be available in many outlets across the UK. Wheat loves sunshine and as the grain fills
even bigger
WILTON WINDMILL – Family tour companion guide book and children’s activities pull-out
Peter Lemon:
Our Flour
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ur flour is a handmade artisan product: stoneground, which means the wheat has been ground between millstones, retaining the nutrients and the whole grain; and wholemeal, which means the bran and wheatgerm are retained during milling, making the flour higher in fibre and more nutritious. You’ll notice it’s quite ‘branny’ and coarse, with brownish coloured bits - not smooth and bleached like industrially produced white flour.
The Wilton Windmill has always been part of my life. My first ever memory as a 2 year old was visiting the bottom of the Windmill in 1947 with my mother to feed her newly arrived day old chicks. For the next 25 years the Mill stood derelict and forgotten until my father, David, suggested to Wiltshire County Council that they should buy it from the landowner and renovate it into a working Windmill. Now she stands proudly at the end of the Pewsey Vale in the middle of the North Wessex Downs AONB and is a landmark for so many visitors to Wiltshire throughout the year. Wilton Windmill can rightly claim to be the only working Windmill in the Wessex Region of England.
Where to buy our flour You can buy flour from the Shepherd’s Hut Shop at Wilton Windmill when it’s open and the following outlets: Aldbourne Post Office, Café and Deli, 13 The Square, Aldbourne, Wiltshire SN8 2DU Cobbs Farm Shop, Bath Road, Hungerford, Berkshire RG17 OSP Great Bedwyn Post Office, 90 Church Street, Great Bedwyn, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 3PF Marr Green Farm Shop, Collingbourne Road, Burbage, Wiltshire SNS 3RT (on the A338)
The only working windmill in Wessex – WILTON WINDMILL
OUR FLOUR
with sun-given energy it ripens and is ready to be harvested in August each year.
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THE HISTORY OF WINDMILLS 26
Man harnessing the natural power of wind and water to serve his needs Mills didn’t just produce flour. Some special mills were used to manufacture paper, cloth and others to run all sorts of other industrial machinery.
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atermills have a long history, but the earliest type of windmill was the Post Mill. It consisted of a timber-framed building which pivoted around a stout central post. A long pole, the Tail Pole, enabled the miller to push it round to keep it facing into the wind. Next came the Smock Mill, three or four centuries later, which differed in having a fixed base with only the cap turning to keep the sails facing the wind. Smock Mills were constructed in wood and were commonly eight-sided. The Tower Mill was also introduced at about the same time. Built of brick or stone it was much stronger and could carry bigger, and thus more powerful, sails. As tower mills
got taller it became impractical to turn the cap from ground level and the fantail evolved to keep the sails square to the wind automatically. The industrial revolution spelt the end of the windmill. From many thousands of mills only about 100 now survive, and only a very few are still worked. Windmills are still used in many parts of the world to pump water and modern designs are now being introduced to generate electricity.
Left: Union Mill in Cranbrook (Kent) is a tall eight sided smock mill, built on a round brick base. Apart from the base it is all constructed from wood. Right: Nutley Mill (Sussex) is a Post Mill. It was built in the 16th century and then fully restored in the 1970’s. Bottom: Mapledurham is a watermill on the Thames just north of Reading. There is also an electricity generating turbine on site. Both windmills and the watermill are is still in full working order and all produce flour. WILTON WINDMILL – Family tour companion guide book and children’s activities pull-out
THE
SWAN
WILTON
We’re just down the hill a short walk from the Windmill • Beer Garden • “Traditional Menu” • Fresh Local Produce • Wiltshire Ales • West Country Cider • Sunday Roasts
01672 870274 Wilton, Marlborough SN8 3SS www.theswanwilton.co.uk
THE LIFE OF THE MILLER 28
What did our miller do when the wind wasn’t blowing? In the past the miller was a crucial part of every community and that is why it’s still a common surname today. Watermills and windmills all over the country needed millers and they often had to live just outside the village.
Our current miller: Mike Clark is our Chief Miller and he instructs others who are learning to mill. He is standing by one of the Common Sails having just fully covered it with canvas. It only takes about twenty minutes to get the Windmill ready to mill. Once started, we can mill for hours, as long as the wind keeps blowing hard enough.
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he life of a miller at Wilton in the early 1800s must have been slightly strange. Millers at watermills could normally store up a certain amount of water in their millponds. Unless there was a drought the water flowing in rivers and streams was relatively reliable. At a windmill one just had to wait until a suitable wind blew. Not too strong or gusty and not too light. (There are times at Wilton when we wait for several weeks for the right wind conditions) At times like this the miller would have had nothing to do. The local farmers, his customers, will be ‘waiting their turn’ for their grain to be milled. When no wind blew our miller could have done some painting or other maintenance work on the windmill. The miller would have been paid by his keeping 1/16th of the flour so if he couldn’t mill he needed other ways of earning a living. Many millers would have had other professions.
WILTON WINDMILL – Family tour companion guide book and children’s activities pull-out
community. His role was important locally but he was often not well liked or trusted. Farmers would take their grain to him and never really knew if the flour they received back was their own. He might have swapped it for older stock. He might also have mixed it or ‘adulterated it’ with other white powders so he could make more money. During Victorian times flour was often mixed with tasteless powders some of which were not at all good for you when eaten.
– originates from: A (4-sailed) windmill with only 3 of its sails covered in ‘sheets’ of canvas will turn clumsily as it’s off balance.
The only working windmill in Wessex – WILTON WINDMILL
THE LIFE OF THE MILLER
Some were thatchers, wheelwrights, blacksmiths or undertakers - all done as part-time jobs. Our miller would sometimes have be working all day and night when the wind did blow just to catch up with his orders. Many a miller was told off by the local clergymen for working on a Sunday. In those days every Sunday should have been a day of rest but the turning sails easily proved that the rules were being broken. FUN FACT The miller had quite The saying: Three a high status in the sheets to the wind
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WALKS AND LOCAL ATTRACTIONS 30
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ilton Windmill is situated in The North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty: a spectacular landscape covering 668 square miles between Swindon, Reading, Andover and Devizes, and comprising tranquil, open downland, ancient woodland, chalk streams, many pretty villages and the two vibrant market towns of Hungerford and Marlborough. Leaflets showing local walks are available from North Wessex Downs AONB: www.northwessexdowns.org.uk, from the Wilton Windmill Shepherd’s Hut Shop and our website: www.wiltonwindmill.co.uk. In the background on this aerial view
you can see the Kennet & Avon Canal winding into the distance. Just below the hill and out of sight are Crofton Beam Engines, the oldest working beam engines on their original site in the world. They were built in 1821 to supply water to the highest point of the canal and are still used on occasion to pump water. The site is open to visitors and the engines are worked by steam on regular open days.
Kennet & Avon Canal
Crofton Beam Engines
Wilton Windmill
There are lots of things to do and places to stay, eat and drink in the Pewsey Vale at www.visitpewseyvale.co.uk
WILTON WINDMILL – Family tour companion guide book and children’s activities pull-out
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o let us know you’d like to get involved and the sort of thing you are interested in, complete the online form: www.wiltonwindmill.co.uk/ get-involved/ and one of our team will contact you.
Where Your Money Goes Your contributions in time, donations and membership are invaluable to the continued success of Wilton Windmill – it’s how we keep things going. There’s always something that needs to be done. 100% of your donations go to securing the future of Wilton Windmill as a working flour mill and educational centre: it’s part of our ongoing commitment to FUN FACT this amazing The saying: Fair to middling – The quality resource and of ground meal would leisure venue be fair, middling, or fine. that is Wilton Nowadays to be ‘fair to middling’ means Windmill!
BECOME A VOLUNTEER
If you’d like to offer your time to Wilton Windmill - guiding tours, milling, bagging flour, helping in the shop, at events, or with admin – we’d be delighted to welcome you!
31 Top: Night time and the moon at the Windmill. Centre: This granary is where grain would traditionally have been stored. We hope to move this actual building onto the windmill site at some point in the future. Bottom: Our Shepherds Hut: a gift shop, café and an education room. Buy some of our flour here.
to be below one’s best.
The only working windmill in Wessex – WILTON WINDMILL
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ilton Windmill is owned by Wiltshire Council but is run by volunteer members of Wilton Windmill Society. The Council attends to the major maintenance and the Society to the minor maintenance, milling and opening the building to the public.
The Society aims: To support the Council in keeping the Windmill maintained to the highest possible standard. To keep the Windmill in fully operational order, mill regularly, and to sell flour throughout the year. To open the Windmill as often as possible during the summer months, (Sundays and Bank Holidays). In this we are totally dependent on the goodwill of our volunteer guides and shopkeepers. To encourage other volunteers to join us and to promote a greater awareness of the Windmill in the wider community. To encourage schools and other groups to arrange visits at other times during the summer months. To educate visitors about the workings of the Windmill, the lives of millers and their families, and the importance of the Windmill in the community and in history. 100% of the profits and donations go towards securing this wonderful piece of our heritage for future generations. We are always happy to answer questions about the Windmill and its history. If you would like more information about Wilton Windmill or you are able to offer your time as a volunteer, guide or miller please visit: www/wiltonwindmill.co.uk/ contact-us Please do review your tour on ‘Trip Advisor’ or ‘Facebook’. Thank you! Wilton Windmill, near Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 3SW