1888
Smock saw mill moved
The six-sailed saw mill was moved from Pluckley to Great Chart.
Site overview
Great Chart Saw Mill was a six-sailed smock mill used for sawing timber. It was moved from Pluckley to a site about one furlong north-east of Great Chart church in 1888. The mill was an unusual Kent example of a wind-powered saw mill rather than a corn mill.
It was demolished in 1928, leaving the base standing. The base itself was later destroyed by fire in the 1960s. The site is now recorded as a former smock saw-mill site rather than as a surviving windmill structure.
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
Great Chart Saw Mill was a smock windmill used for sawing timber. It was a six-sailed saw mill and was moved from Pluckley to Great Chart in 1888. At Great Chart it stood about one furlong north-east of the parish church, where it became an unusual example of a Kent windmill used for timber sawing rather than for corn milling.
The mill survived into the twentieth century and was photographed before its loss. It was demolished in 1928, leaving the base standing. The surviving base remained for several decades but was destroyed by fire in the 1960s.
Great Chart Saw Mill is therefore now a lost windmill site. Its significance lies in its documented movement from Pluckley, its specialist saw-mill function, and its former six-sailed smock-mill form within the Great Chart landscape.
Timeline
1888–1928
Wind-powered sawing
The smock mill was used as a wind-powered saw mill at Great Chart.
1928
Mill demolished
The smock saw mill was demolished in 1928, leaving the base standing.
1960–1969
Base destroyed by fire
The surviving base of the former saw mill burnt down in the 1960s.
Sources and records
Windmill World site entry
List of windmills in Kent
Mills Archive catalogue references
Historic England local Ashford archive image references
Kent and Surrey Bylines article on wind power history
List of windmills in Kent
Mills Archive catalogue references
Historic England local Ashford archive image references
Kent and Surrey Bylines article on wind power history