Bocking Windmill or Bocking Churchstreet Windmill is a
grade I listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
post mill
The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single vertical post, around which it can be turned to bring the sails into the wind. All p ...
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
, England which has been restored.
History
Although a build date of 1680 is often quoted, ''Bocking Windmill'' was actually built in 1721 at a position some to the west (TL 761 260 ) of its present site. The first mention of the mill was in an indenture dated 19 April 1721 where the lease of land that had been enclosed for the building of a windmill was sold to Joseph Nash, miller of
Halstead
Halstead is a town and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex, England. Its population of 11,906 in 2011Halstead
Halstead is a town and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex, England. Its population of 11,906 in 2011Wethersfield for £170. In 1784 John Tabor loaned £100, with the mill as security. The mill was to be run by the Brown family for three generations, ending with John Brown who died in September 1829.
In 1830 the mill was taken down and removed from its original site " near The Bull" to its new site opposite the pub. The mill and pub were both in the occupation of John Brown the Younger. The mill at this time had one pair of French burr stones and a
flour dresser
A flour dresser is a mechanical device used in grain mills for bolting or flour extraction which is the process of separating the finished flour from the other grain components following milling. The milling of grain into flour has been termed th ...
. It is thought that the mill was modernised about this time. In 1837, Brown paid £6 8s for a new sail that was long, and a further 6s for a shutter bar, indicating that the mill had a pair of spring sails by that time. In 1842,
millwright
A millwright is a craftsperson or skilled tradesperson who installs, dismantles, maintains, repairs, reassembles, and moves machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites.
The term ''millwright'' (also known as ''industrial mecha ...
Robert Hunt installed a new "right up shaft" (upright shaft) at a cost of £5. In 1850, the mill was in the occupation of William Dixon. Later millers were Henry Playle, James Hicks and Henry Hawkins. The mill was working until the First World War. the mill worked commercially until around 1924 and to order for a few years after that.
In 1929, the mill was presented to Bocking Parish Council by its owner, Edward H Tabor. With the help of the clerk, Alfred Hills, over £400 was subscribed and the mill was repaired at a cost of £225, with the rest of the money being invested to raise a maintenance fund of £5 annually. In the early 60s, the mill was derelict. Braintree and Bocking Urban District Council launched an appeal, and undertook to match pound-for-pound any money raise, with the aim of raising £2,500 in total. F J Bearman, a director of
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
donated 50
Guineas
The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...
. The mill was restored again in 1964 and officially reopened in November of that year. The Friends of Bocking Windmill was formed to ensure the mill's preservation.
Description
''Bocking Windmill'' is a post mill with a two-storey roundhouse. It has two
common sails
Common may refer to:
Places
* Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
* Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts
* Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts
* Clapham Common, originally com ...
and two spring sails carried on a wooden windshaft. Two pairs of millstones are located in the breast. The mill is winded by a tailpole. The mill is high to the roof.
Trestle and roundhouse
The trestle is of
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
. The crosstrees are long, of normal section.This would be square The main post is in length, and square at its base and diameter at the top. The underside of the lower crosstree is above ground level. The roundhouse is of brick, with a boarded roof covered in tarred felt. A pair of underdrift millstones is located on the upper floor of the roundhouse, these were driven via a portable
steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...
in times of calm. The roundhouse was originally built as a single-storey structure, it and the mill being raised a storey at a later date.
Body
The body of the mill measures by in plan. The balance of the mill has been changed at some point, with the position the crown tree meets the side girts has been changed, being some to the rear of its former position. This was probably done after 1830, as a result of the doubling the number of millstones in the breast. The increased weight would have made the mill headsick. The crowntree is by in section, whilst the side girts are by in section.
Sails and windshaft
The windshaft is of
cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...
, replacing a former wooden one. It was probably secondhand when fitted as it is longer than is really necessary. The mill has four double Patent sails. The mill would originally have been built with Common sails and a wooden windshaft. The sails have a span of and are wide.
Machinery
The brake wheel has been converted from compass arm construction to clasp arm construction, it is diameter with 63 cogs. The mill was originally built with a single pair of millstones in the breast, but now has two pairs. The upright shaft is cast iron, and carries three wheels. There is a cast iron mortice wheel with 66 cogs drives a flour dresser. The wallower is an iron mortice gear with 24 cogs, and the spur wheel is also an iron mortice gear, with 63 cogs. The stone nuts have 20 cogs each.
Millers
*Joseph Nash 1721–1733
*Joseph Nash Jr 1733
*Thomas French c1738–1774
*Bartholomew Brown 1774–
* Brown
*John Brown –1829
*John Brown Jr 1829–1837
*William Dixon 1850–1863
*Henry Playle 1874
*James Hicks 1890
*Henry Hawkins 1912–1924
References for above:-