1834
Hamlin's Mill built
Hamlin's Mill was built at Hailsham as a smock mill.
Site overview
Hamlin's Mill, also known as Lower Mill, was a smock mill at Hailsham. It was built in 1834 and became the town's last surviving windmill. The mill was destroyed by fire on 17 November 1923.
Its site was later occupied by a powder mill and then by a sack mill, which was also destroyed by fire in 1969.
Map
Map markers and directions links are provided for location reference only and do not indicate public access or permission to enter a site.
No site photograph is currently available. Images will be added as field visits are carried out.
History
Hamlin's Mill stood at Hailsham and was also known as Lower Mill. It was a smock mill built in 1834 and formed part of Hailsham's nineteenth-century milling landscape. The mill was later remembered as the town's last surviving windmill.
It had a timber cap frame and vertical boarding features associated with Sussex smock-mill construction. Hamlin's Mill was destroyed by fire on 17 November 1923. The windmill was replaced by a powder mill, and by 1969 the site was in use as a sack mill.
That later industrial building was also destroyed by fire.
Timeline
1923
Windmill destroyed by fire
Hamlin's Mill was destroyed by fire.
1969
Later sack mill destroyed
The later sack mill on the site was destroyed by fire.
Sources and records
Hailsham Town Council local history material
List of windmills in East Sussex
Archives Hub entry: Smock mill, Hailsham, in working order
Sussex Industrial History article on Sussex windmill caps
List of windmills in East Sussex
Archives Hub entry: Smock mill, Hailsham, in working order
Sussex Industrial History article on Sussex windmill caps