Heage Windmill Heage · Derbyshire · England

Heage Windmill stands on Dungley Hill above Heage in Derbyshire. The site is associated with wind-powered milling from the 1790s, with the mill recorded as working by 1798. The original mill was a stone tower corn mill with four common sails. It later became part of the Shore family's milling business after purchase by brothers Thomas and Isaac Shore in 1850. During their ownership the mill was modified with four patent sails and a fantail.

A major storm in February 1894 blew off the cap and sails. The subsequent rebuilding gave the mill the distinctive form for which it is now known: an ogee cap and six patent sails. The work created one of the most unusual surviving windmills in England, a six-sailed tower mill with a stone tower rather than a brick one. The mill continued working into the early twentieth century, with Thomas Isaac Shore, grandson of Thomas Shore, recorded as the miller when it closed.

The end of the working life came in 1919 after gale damage to the fantail. Repair was not considered economic and the mill ceased operation. It was sold by the Shore family at auction in 1934 and was later used for storage before becoming derelict. National recognition followed in 1965 when Heage Windmill was listed at Grade II*. Derbyshire County Council purchased the mill in 1968.

Restoration began in the early 1970s with work including new floors, cap covering, fantail and sails, although the mill was not yet returned to full working order. Public interest grew through open days from 1989, leading to the formation of Heage Windmill Society in 1996. A full restoration campaign followed, and the mill reopened as a fully working windmill on 1 June 2002. Further repair work was needed after wet rot was found in the fantail mechanism and sails in 2015; repairs were completed in 2016. Heage Windmill now survives as a working heritage mill and the only working six-sailed stone tower windmill in England.