Davison's Mill Stelling Minnis · Kent · England

Davison's Mill stands at Stelling Minnis and is one of Kent's most important surviving smock mills. It was built in 1866 by Thomas Holman of Canterbury for George Goble, replacing an earlier open-trestle post mill with common sails. The new mill was a four-storey smock mill on a very low brick base, with a stage at first-floor level. It had four patent sails on a cast-iron windshaft, fantail winding, and two pairs of underdrift millstones. The brake wheel, wallower, and great spur wheel were of iron.

The mill passed into the Davison family's working history through Henry William Davison and later Alec Davison. In 1923 a Ruston & Hornsby hot-bulb oil engine was installed, despatched from Holman's in Canterbury on 7 May. Wind working ceased in 1925, but the mill continued commercially by engine. In April 1935 it was restored to full working order, financed by H. Laurie as a memorial to Colonel Ronald Macdonald Laurie. The following year the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings awarded Laurie a Windmill Certificate.

One pair of sails was blown off in the early 1950s, after which the mill worked with a single pair, assisted by the engine. When Alec Davison retired in autumn 1970, the mill was the last windmill in Kent still working commercially. After Mr Davison's death, the mill was acquired by Kent County Council. A major restoration began in 2003, with the sails taken down on 19 July and the cap removed on 20 July. The work was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Kent County Council and carried out by IJP Millwrights. The mill is now managed by the Stelling Minnis Windmill and Museum Trust, founded in 2010.