Starston Wind Pump is a hollow post mill for pumping water, situated west of the village of

Starston Starston is a small village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It covers an area of and had a population of 321 in 123 households at the 2001 census, the population increasing to 331 at the 2011 Census. The Starston village sign features ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, England. The Pump is 330 yards away from the parish church of Saint Margaret in Mill Field. The windpump 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 ...

building and a

scheduled ancient monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

. After some years on the

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...

because of its poor condition, it was restored in 2010.

History

This unusual windmill pump was built c.1850 by the Suffolk Millwrights Whitmore and Binyon Wailes, R. A Source Book of Windmills and Water Mills. Ward Lock & Co, 1979 and it was built to pump water from the nearby Beck to fill up massive water tanks, one on top of Starston Place house and one in the nearby farmyard of Home Farm. So efficient were the large canvas and wood sails of this little windmill, that although there was a stationary engine which could work the pumps, it was seldom used. However, with the installation a piped supply of water to the village and district the use of the pump was discontinued. The tank on top of the house provided the main supply of water for this very large house. The Farmyard tank supplied the water for the 200 head of milking

cow Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are called co ...

s and fattening bullocks on the farm, and also for the large herd of

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

s that were also kept at Home Farm. Another use for this water was to maintain the level of water in the horse pond from an overflow pipe from the main tank.

References

Windmills completed in 1850 Infrastructure completed in 1850 Windmills in Norfolk Post mills in the United Kingdom Grade II listed buildings in Norfolk Windpumps in the United Kingdom Structures on the Heritage at Risk register Scheduled monuments in Norfolk Grade II listed windmills South Norfolk {{Norfolk-struct-stub