St Margaret's Bay Windmill is 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
Smock mill on
South Foreland
South Foreland is a chalk headland on the Kent coast of southeast England. It presents a bold cliff to the sea, and commands views over the Strait of Dover. It is centred northeast of Dover and 15 miles south of North Foreland. It includes ...
, the southeasternmost point of England. It was built in 1929 to generate electricity for the attached house, high on the
White Cliffs of Dover.
History
The mill was built for Sir William Bearswell by Holman's, the
Canterbury 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 ...
s. It was built to generate electricity and started generating in June 1929.
The mill ceased to generate electricity in 1939, when the
dynamo was removed.
[ During the Second World War, the mill was occupied by a special branch of the WRNS.]fantail
Fantails are small insectivorous songbirds of the genus ''Rhipidura'' in the family Rhipiduridae, native to Australasia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Most of the species are about long, specialist aerial feeders, and named as "f ...
and repairs to the sails.
Description
St Margaret's Bay Windmill is a three-storey smock mill on a single-storey brick base. It has four patent sails
Windmills are powered by their sails. Sails are found in different designs, 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 rou ...
and is winded by a fantail.[ The mill generated electricity via a dynamo and is now used as residential accommodation, a use it has always had.][
]
See also
* South Foreland lighthouse is a few hundred metres away
References
External links
Windmill World page
on the mill
{{Kent Windmills
Windmills in Kent
Smock mills in England
Grade II listed buildings in Kent
Electrical generators
Windmills completed in 1929
Octagonal buildings in the United Kingdom