Site overview
Croxley Green Windmill is a Grade II listed tower corn mill at Croxley Green. Built around 1860, it was a five-storey tower mill with a stage at second-floor level, a boat-shaped cap, fantail winding, four patent sails, and three pairs of millstones. It worked by wind until the sails were blown off in the 1880s, and from 1886 continued by steam engine only.
Wheat grinding ended in 1899, after which the building was used as a saw mill and turnery. By the 1930s it had been used as a chicken house and pigeon loft. During the Second World War it served as an Air Raid Precautions observation post.
The mill was converted to residential accommodation in the 1960s.
Map
History
Croxley Green Windmill was built around 1860 as a tower corn mill. It stood as a five-storey tower with a stage at second-floor level and an internal diameter of 22 feet at ground level. The mill had a boat-shaped cap, turned by a fantail, and four patent sails driving three pairs of millstones.
The first recorded miller was Isaac Watts in 1861. Later millers included Philip Howard, J Batchelor, William Caldwell, Ephraim Holloway, and Hannah Holloway. The mill worked by wind through the nineteenth century until its sails were blown off in the 1880s. From 1886 it continued in use with steam power only, showing the shift from wind to auxiliary mechanical power in its final working phase.
The mill was last used to grind wheat in 1899. After milling ended, the building continued in practical use as a saw mill and turnery. By the 1930s it had been adapted to agricultural and domestic ancillary uses as a chicken house and pigeon loft. During the Second World War the tower was used as an Air Raid Precautions observation post, with an air raid siren mounted on the structure.
The former tower mill was converted to residential accommodation in the 1960s. It was listed at Grade II in 1973. Later planning material records the significance of the surviving tower mill, its arched openings, and former balcony arrangement, and notes the suburban setting that developed around what had once been a more detached mill site. The building survives as a converted listed tower mill at Croxley Green.
Timeline
Isaac Watts worked the mill
Sails blown off
Steam-only working recorded
Wheat grinding ended
Agricultural ancillary use
Air Raid Precautions post
Converted to residential accommodation
Grade II listed
Sources and records
Historic England listed building entry
Windmill World site entry
Wikipedia article: Croxley Green Windmill
Three Rivers District Council planning report
Mills Archive site record