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The Broad Eye Windmill is an historic windmill in the county town of
Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...
,
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
, England. The windmill is currently home to
Windmill Broadcasting {{Infobox radio station , name = Windmill Broadcasting , logo = File:Windmill Broadcasting logo.jpg , city = Stafford , area = Staffordshire , branding = , airdate = 12 June 2016 , ...
, and is looked after by the Friends of Broad Eye Windmill. It operated as a mill for 100 years, with the sails being removed in 1897. Over the next 100 or so years, numerous businesses operated from the Broad Eye Windmill, including a butchers. The patron of the Broad Eye Windmill is actor, TV presenter and historian Tony Robinson.


History


18th century

Despite the town having three water mills, not enough
flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...
could be produced to feed the poor of
Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...
, as large amounts were being shipped to Birmingham via the
Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a navigable narrow canal in Staffordshire and Worcestershire in the English Midlands. It is long, linking the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent and Mersey Canal at Haywoo ...
, built in 1772 at Radford Bank. Furthermore, high prices were being charged by the water mills, as a result of the corn laws which allowed farmers and millers to charge high prices for
grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...
and flour. This meant local people went hungry, and, to get around this problem, work started on the Broad Eye Windmill in 1796, which was completed in the early 1800s. Allotment land was made available at Broad Eye for the project, which is one of the lowest lying areas of Stafford Borough, sited next to the River Sow. Using stone from the early Shire Hall, in its day, at a height of sixty three feet, the windmill was the highest in the
Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...
and originally had a conical cap and seven floors, of which only the upper four floors were used for flour production.


19th century

In 1835, to keep up with demand, a
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 ...
was placed in the lower floors to keep up production when the wind wasn't blowing. However, this only partly rectified the situation, as when the mainline railway arrived in 1837, flour production could not keep up with local demand - Stafford was growing so quickly, and with new rail links, it was possible to bring in cheap flour, which meant the mill could not compete. Furthermore, due to the demand for finer, white flour which could not be produced at the Broad Eye Windmill, by 1896, the mill reached the end of its life in its intended form, and in the following year, in 1897, the sails and winding gear were removed.


20th century

In 1919, the lower part of the windmill was converted into a shop, and, from the early 1920s until 1931, it was trading as a butcher’s shop. Photographs of the windmill's time as a shop still remain.
American troops The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States ...
used the mill as a wartime store place but it later fell derelict, before being declared a
Grade II 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 ...
listed building in 1951.


Present day

In 1966, the Friends of Broad Eye Windmill was created to look after the mill with the idea of returning it to its former glory, whilst establishing a heritage and education centre within. They aim to renew damaged oak support beams, Joists and floorboards so the next storey can be used as a museum and heritage centre. Inside the windmill lie artifacts and photographs relating to the Windmill and Stafford's industrial past. Currently, only the ground floor and basement are accessible. The Friends of Broad Eye Windmill frequently hold open days throughout the summer, to give people an idea of what the Mill's interior is like, and to raise awareness of the renovation of the windmill. Donations towards the Windmill are always being collected, which goes towards the renovation and preservation of the Broad Eye Windmill.


Windmill Broadcasting

{{main, Windmill Broadcasting In 2016,
Windmill Broadcasting {{Infobox radio station , name = Windmill Broadcasting , logo = File:Windmill Broadcasting logo.jpg , city = Stafford , area = Staffordshire , branding = , airdate = 12 June 2016 , ...
, a local community radio station, started broadcasting from the Broad Eye Windmill. As well as being based in the Mill, the station works with the windmill members to assist with fundraising and renovation, and to help promote the windmill.


See also

*
List of windmills in Staffordshire This is a list of windmills in the English county of Staffordshire. Locations A - B C D - F G - H K - M N - Q R - T U - Y Maps *1682 Joseph Brown *1686 Robert Plot *1747 Jeffrey *1749 Bowen *1775 Yates *1799 Yates *1814 Ordnance S ...
* Listed buildings in Stafford (Outer Area)


References


External links


Broad Eye WindmillBroad Eye Windmill on FacebookBroad Eye Windmill Twitter pageWindmill Broadcasting websiteWindmill Broadcasting on FacebookVisit Stafford page on the Broad Eye Windmill
Windmills in Staffordshire Buildings and structures in Stafford Grade II listed buildings in Staffordshire