Clayrack Drainage Windmill is located at How Hill in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

. It is on the east bank of the River Ant close to

How Hill How Hill is a hamlet on the River Ant within The Broads National Park in Ludham parish, Norfolk, England. How Hill House, completed in 1903, was designed by Thomas Boardman, son of the architect Edward Boardman; he was Mayor of Norwich in 190 ...

, a large

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

building which houses the Norfolk Broads Study Centre.The Norfolk Windmill Trust, Windmills to Visit Guide. 3rd Edition 1982. Page 16, The Morris Printing Co Ltd 57-61 Pitt Street Norwich, Description & Location Details The Drainage mill is 1¾ miles west of the village of

Ludham Ludham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, in the Norfolk Broads, at the end of a dyke leading to Womack Water and flowing into the River Thurne. It lies to the East of Ludham Bridge, which is on the River Ant. It cov ...

Description

Clayrack Drainage Windmill is of an interesting design being one of only two ‘Hollow Post’ drainage mills left on the broads and the only one fitted with a scoop wheel. The mill has a miniature cap, sails and fantail based on its more traditional big brother tower drainage mills which can be seen on other parts of the Norfolk Broads. Just to the south of this windmill on the same side of the river Ant is another small interesting drainage windmill called Boardman's Windmill. Clayrack takes its name from the Fen it stands on.

History

Clayrack drainage windmill is not on its original position. It was moved in 1981 from its previous site on Ranworth Marshes 2¾ miles to the south. The mill was in a terrible state of repair and was in danger of being lost for ever. It was decided that it was worth saving and a restoration program was set up. As Ranworth marsh hosted many nesting birds which would have been vulnerable to any disturbance caused by the work the decision was taken to move Clayrack windpump to its present position at

. Now fully restored the mill can sometimes be seen operating in its original capacity as a drainage pump.

References

Windmills in Norfolk Windmills of the Norfolk Broads Post mills in the United Kingdom Windpumps in the United Kingdom Windmills completed in 1981 Ludham {{Norfolk-struct-stub