Syleham Windmill was a

Grade II listed 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 Ir ...

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 vertical post, around which it can be turned to bring the sails into the wind. All p ...

Syleham Syleham is a small parish, next to the River Waveney in Suffolk, England, about six miles east of Diss. Its church, St Margaret, is one of 38 existing round-tower church Round-tower churches are a type of church found mainly in England, most ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include L ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

which was built in 1730 at Wingfield and moved to Syleham in 1823. It was blown down on 16 October 1987. The remains of the mill survive today, comprising the roundhouse and

trestle ATLAS-I (Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator), better known as Trestle, was a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War at Sandia National Laborat ...

History

The mill was originally one of a pair on Wingfield Green. Both mills came into the ownership of Robert Sparkes in 1820. He believed that the mills were too close to each other and so moved one of them to Syleham in 1823. In 1839 she was owned by George Dye. He died in 1847 and the mill was purchased by John Bokenham, who sold it to John Bryant in 1848. He died in 1865 and the mill was run by his widow, Sarah until 1874 when their son James took the mill. James Bryant died in 1907 and the mill passed to his son Arthur, who installed a

Ruston & Hornsby Ruston & Hornsby was an industrial equipment manufacturer in Lincoln, England founded in 1918. The company is best known as a manufacturer of narrow and standard gauge diesel locomotives and also of steam shovels. Other products included c ...

engine to drive an additional pair of millstones in the roundhouse. The mill survived a

lightning strike A lightning strike or lightning bolt is an electric discharge between the atmosphere and the ground. Most originate in a cumulonimbus cloud and terminate on the ground, called cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning. A less common type of strike, groun ...

in 1936. When Arthur Bryant died, the mill was left to his daughter, who sold it to Jack Penton in 1945. The mill survived being tailwinded in July 1946 and two of the sails were smashed against the roundhouse. Repairs were carried out by

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 ...

Jesse Wightman. Two new sails being made from the remains of the four previously on the mill, and the side girts were strengthened. In 1949, the mill was sold to Elizabeth Jillard. The breast stones were transferred to the roundhouse. The mill was worked by wind until 1951, latterly on two sails and an oil engine powered a pair of millstones in the roundhouse until 1967. The mill was sold in that year to Ivor Wingfield, grandson of Arthur Bryant. In 1974, some repair work was done to the roundhouse funded by a grant of £400 from

Suffolk County Council Suffolk County Council is the administrative authority for the county of Suffolk, England. It is run by 75 elected county councillors representing 63 divisions. It is a member of the East of England Local Government Association. History Estab ...

. Full restoration of the mill was planned at the time. The mill was blown down on 16 October 1987 when one of the front corner posts failed. The remains of the mill body were removed in June 2007.

Description

''Syleham Mill'' was a post mill on a two storey roundhouse. The roundhouse is built of

clunch Clunch is a traditional building material of chalky limestone rock used mainly in eastern England and Normandy. Clunch distinguishes itself from archetypal forms of limestone by being softer in character when cut, such as resembling chalk in lo ...

. The four Spring sails were carried on a

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impu ...

windshaft and powered two pairs of millstones arranged head and tail. The Head wheel and tail wheel were both of wooden clasp arm construction. The mill was winded by a fantail arranged in the Suffolk style. An oil engine latterly powered an additional pair of millstones in the roundhouse.

Millers

*Robert Sparkes 1823 *George Dye 1839-47 *John Bokenham 1847-48 *John Bryant 1848-67 *Sarah Ann Bryant 1867-74 *James Bryant 1874-1907 *Arthur John Bryant 1907-36 *Jack Penton 1945-49 *Elizabeth Jillard 1949-67 References for above:-

External links

Windmill World
webpage on Syleham Mill.
Photo showing remains of mill in 2007

References

{{Windmills in England Windmills in Suffolk Post mills in the United Kingdom Grade II listed buildings in Suffolk Windmills completed in 1823 Grinding mills in the United Kingdom