Keston Windmill
Encyclopedia
Keston Windmill is a grade I listed Post mill in Keston
, formerly in Kent
and now in the London Borough of Bromley
. The mill was built in 1716 and is conserved with its machinery intact but not in working order.
millwright
fitted new sails and repaired the breast of the mill in December 1836. The mill was working by wind until either 1878 or 1900. In 1955, Kent County Council
placed a preservation order on the mill. The mill was built to grind corn into flour. The mill is privately owned and preserved with its machinery intact, but not in working order. It is not generally open to the public.
and the date 1716 is carved on the main post. It had four double Patent sails
carried on a cast iron
windshaft. The mill is winded by a tailpole. The wooden brake wheel drives a cast iron wallower, which drives a cast iron great spur wheel with wooden cogs. This drives two pairs of underdrift millstone
s in the breast of the mill. The mill also has a flour dresser (bolter). The bolter in Keston mill has been used as the model for a reconstructed bolter in Lowfield Heath Windmill
, Charlwood
, Surrey
.
References for above:-
Keston
Keston is a part suburban, part rural area of the London Borough of Bromley, England. It lies on the edge of Hayes Common, to the northwest of Greater London's border with Kent.-History:...
, formerly in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
and now in the London Borough of Bromley
London Borough of Bromley
The London Borough of Bromley is a London borough of south east London, England and forms part of Outer London. The principal town in the borough is Bromley.-Geography:...
. The mill was built in 1716 and is conserved with its machinery intact but not in working order.
History
Keston Windmill was built in 1716. William Ashby, the WesterhamWesterham
Westerham is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, in South East England with 5,000 people. The parish is south of the North Downs, ten miles west of Sevenoaks. It covers 5800 acres . It is recorded as early as the 9th century, and was mentioned in the Domesday Book in a...
millwright
Millwright
A millwright is a craftsman or tradesman engaged with the construction and maintenance of machinery.Early millwrights were specialist carpenters who erected machines used in agriculture, food processing and processing lumber and paper...
fitted new sails and repaired the breast of the mill in December 1836. The mill was working by wind until either 1878 or 1900. In 1955, Kent County Council
Kent County Council
Kent County Council is the county council that governs the majority of the county of Kent in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council has 84 elected councillors...
placed a preservation order on the mill. The mill was built to grind corn into flour. The mill is privately owned and preserved with its machinery intact, but not in working order. It is not generally open to the public.
Description
Keston Mill has a three storey body on a single storey roundhouse. The roundhouse enclosed the trestleTrestle (mill)
The Trestle of a Post mill is the arrangement of the Main post, crosstrees and quarterbars that form the substructure of this type of windmill. It may or may not be surrounded by a roundhouse...
and the date 1716 is carved on the main post. It had four double Patent sails
Windmill sail
Windmills are powered by their sails. Sails are found in different designs, from primitive common sails to the advanced patent sails.-Jib sails:...
carried on a cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
windshaft. The mill is winded by a tailpole. The wooden brake wheel drives a cast iron wallower, which drives a cast iron great spur wheel with wooden cogs. This drives two pairs of underdrift millstone
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,...
s in the breast of the mill. The mill also has a flour dresser (bolter). The bolter in Keston mill has been used as the model for a reconstructed bolter in Lowfield Heath Windmill
Lowfield Heath Windmill
Lowfield Heath Windmill is a grade II listed post mill at Charlwood, Surrey, England which has been restored to working order.-History:Lowfield Heath Windmill was originally built at Lowfield Heath . Its origins are uncertain, a rumour that it was moved from Hookwood in the 1760s is not borne out...
, Charlwood
Charlwood
Charlwood is a village and civil parish in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England. It is immediately northwest of London Gatwick Airport in West Sussex, close west of Horley and north of Crawley. The historic county boundary between Surrey and Sussex ran to the south of Gatwick Airport...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
.
Millers
- John Ellis 1838
- Thomas Ellis 1845
- Martin J Hoath 1845
- B Hoadley 1862
References for above:-
External links
- Windmill World page on the mill.