Rolvenden Windmill is a

grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

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 central vertical post. The vertical post is supported by four quarter bars. These ar ...

on the B2086 road west of

Rolvenden Rolvenden is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village is centred on the A28 Ashford to Hastings road, south-west of Tenterden. The settlement of Rolvenden Layne, south of Rolvenden, is also part of th ...

in southeast

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is maintained as a memorial to a local resident killed in a road accident in 1955.

History

There is evidence of a windmill in Rolvenden in 1556. The mill is believed to have been built c.1580. A windmill was marked on Symondsos map of 1596, John Speed's map of 1610, Andrews, Drury and Herbert's map of 1769 and the 1819-43

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

map. ''Rolvenden mill'' bears a date of 1772, but is believed to be older, possibly the mill marked on the 1596 map. The mill last worked circa 1885, when two sails are known to have been removed. The original roundhouse was demolished during the First World War. The ladder giving access to the body of the mill collapsed in 1917. By the mid-1950s, the mill was becoming increasingly derelict. But in 1956, the mill was restored by Thompson's, the Alford millwrights. The work was paid for by Mr & Mrs Barham in memory of their son John Nicholas Barham (24 July 1937 - 24 August 1955), who had been killed in a road accident. The previously white painted mill was tarred. New common sails were fitted and a new brick roundhouse was erected. The mill was fixed in position, with steel girders supporting the mill from below. The restored windmill is also featured in the title credits of the children's television show '' Mr Majeika'', which ran from 1988 - 1990.

Description

''Rolvenden Mill'' is a post mill on a single storey brick roundhouse. It has four

Common sails Windmills are powered by their sails. Sails are found in different forms, from primitive common sails to the advanced patent sails. Jib sails The jib sail is found in Mediterranean countries and consists of a simple triangle of cloth wound r ...

and is winded by a tailpole. In later years, she is said to have carried "two patent or wood louvred sweeps, which were later removed and used elsewhere. - these would most likely have been Spring Sails, and offers an explanation for the derelict mill with only two sails. When the mill was restored, four Common Sails were erected. The ladder was not replaced when the mill was restored, making access to the mill difficult. The mill has two pairs of

millstone Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, used for triturating, crushing or, more specifically, grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a s ...

s, in a head and tail arrangement.

Millers

*Thomas B. Greenhill 1799 - 1828 *E W & H A Allen 1828 *E Witt *Thomas Record 1834 *Richard Reeves 1839 *George Bridge 1845 *Laurence Foster 1845 - 1852 *R Clemetson 1862 *Collins 1870s *John Greenhill 1878 *Horace Dunk 1879 - 1883 *James Collins - 1885 References for above:-

References

External links

Windmill World page
on the mill. {{Kent Windmills Grinding mills in the United Kingdom Monuments and memorials in Kent Post mills in the United Kingdom Windmills in Kent Buildings and structures completed in 1772 Windmills completed in the 18th century Grade II* listed buildings in Kent