Bursledon Windmill is a Grade II* listed windmill at Bursledon

Bursledon

Bursledon is a village on the River Hamble in Hampshire, England. It is located within the borough of Eastleigh. Close to the city of Southampton, Bursledon has a railway station, a marina, dockyards and the Bursledon Windmill. Nearby villages include Swanwick, Hamble-le-Rice, Netley and Sarisbury...

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

 England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 which has been restored to working order.

History

Bursledon Windmill was built in 1814, replacing an earlier tower mill which was built in 1766. The machinery of the earlier mill was incorporated into the new mill. In 1814, the mill was mortgaged for £800 for six years. The mill was sold by the mortgagees in 1820. The mill was working until the 1880s. When the mill ceased working, a flat roof was placed on the cap frame, which preserved the machinery in the mill.

In 1931, the runner stones

Millstone

Millstones or mill stones are used in windmills and watermills, including tide mills, for grinding wheat or other grains.The type of stone most suitable for making millstones is a siliceous rock called burrstone , an open-textured, porous but tough, fine-grained sandstone, or a silicified,...

were removed. The mill was derelict by 1978. The top two floors being in very poor condition by then. Some essential repairs were carried out in that year by the County Council. Between 1978 and 1991, the mill was restored by the Hampshire Buildings Preservation Trust. The sails were replaced in 1990 and the mill opened to the public in May 1991.

Description

Bursledon mill is a five storey tower mill with a stage at first floor level. The boat shaped cap is winded by a chain and wheel. The four Common sails are carried on a wooden windshaft, which also carries the wooden brake wheel. This drives the wooden wallower, located at the top of the wooden upright shaft. The wooden great spur wheel at the bottom of the upright shaft drives three pairs of underdrift millstones.

Millers

• William Langtry 1787-1813 (post mill)
• William Langtry 1814-1820
• George Gosling 1872-1907

Reference for above:-

Public access

Bursledon windmill is open to the public from 11:00 to 16:00 on Sundays. It is also open by appointment on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
John Cove and his family worked this mill between 1847 and 1871. uk census shows he had worked a mill in portsmouth and origonaly came from wiltshire.
He and his wife Susannah Emmett both came from Wiltshire and are responsible for the nearly all the Cove family in southampton.
his daughter Mary married a jarvis and ran the Jolly Sailor public house in hamble one of his other daughters ran a market garden at the end of windmill lane and his son John Cove became a farm labourer. and was my 4x great grandfather. (B.T.Cove)

External links

• Windmill World webpage on Bursledon Mill.
• Diagram of Bursledon Mill