1799
Post mill built
High Wych Windmill was built as a post corn mill.
Site overview
High Wych Windmill was a post corn mill at High Wych, near Sawbridgeworth. It is recorded as having been built in 1799 and appears on nineteenth-century map evidence before being moved from High Wych to Little Dunmow in Essex in 1875. After relocation it was refitted with patent sails and a fantail, while earlier components including the old oak windshaft, poll end, tail wheel, and common sails were discarded.
The relocated mill continued working at Little Dunmow until 1913, when it was dismantled. The High Wych site is therefore a former windmill location rather than a standing mill survival, but its history is unusually clear because the mill's later relocation and reuse are documented.
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
High Wych Windmill was a post corn mill at High Wych. It is recorded as having been built in 1799 and is shown in the nineteenth-century windmill record for Hertfordshire, including map evidence around 1800 and 1822. The mill stood within the agricultural landscape around High Wych and Sawbridgeworth before its removal in the later nineteenth century.
In 1875 the mill was moved from High Wych to Little Dunmow in Essex. After relocation it was altered for continued working use. Patent sails and a fantail were fitted, while older components including the oak windshaft, poll end, tail wheel, and four common sails were discarded. The mill then worked at Little Dunmow until 1913, when it was pulled down and sold. Its seasoned oak timbers were subsequently reused elsewhere. The High Wych site is now a lost windmill site, but the documented relocation preserves an important part of its history, linking a Hertfordshire post mill with the late working life of a relocated Essex mill.
Timeline
1800–1822
Mill shown on early maps
The post mill is recorded in early nineteenth-century map evidence for High Wych.
1875
Mill moved to Little Dunmow
The post mill was moved from High Wych to Little Dunmow in Essex.
1913
Relocated mill dismantled
The relocated mill at Little Dunmow worked until 1913 before being pulled down and sold.
Sources and records
High Wych Windmill article
List of windmills in Hertfordshire
Windmill World site entry
Windmills of Hertfordshire reference material
List of windmills in Hertfordshire
Windmill World site entry
Windmills of Hertfordshire reference material