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Corn milling use recorded
The mill is recorded as a tower corn mill at Huttoft.
Site overview
Willson's Mill at Huttoft was a tower corn mill built in 1844. It had five storeys and four sails, and specialist records identify it as a tower mill used for corn milling. The mill was severely damaged in a gale in 1945.
After that damage, engine power was used for several years, marking the final working phase of the site after the loss of its full wind-powered function. The mill belongs to Huttoft's nineteenth-century agricultural milling landscape and is preserved in specialist and photographic records as a named local tower mill.
Map
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No site photograph is currently available. Images will be added as field visits are carried out.
History
Willson's Mill was built at Huttoft in 1844. It was a five-storey tower mill with four sails, constructed for corn milling in the agricultural coastal district of eastern Lincolnshire.
The mill worked as a wind-powered corn mill during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Its tall five-storey form and four-sail arrangement made it a substantial village mill. Specialist windmill records preserve it as the Huttoft tower mill, while local photographic material records the Willson's Mill name.
A major change came in 1945, when the mill was severely damaged in a gale. After the damage, engine power was used for several years. This continued the milling function after the loss or disabling of the wind-powered arrangement, linking the site's later life with mechanical auxiliary power.
Willson's Mill now represents a documented former tower corn mill rather than a complete working windmill. Its significance lies in its 1844 construction date, its recorded five-storey and four-sail form, and its twentieth-century transition from wind power to engine-assisted working after storm damage.
Timeline
1844
Tower mill built
Willson's Mill was built in 1844 as a five-storey tower mill with four sails.
1945
Gale damage
The mill was severely damaged in a gale in 1945.
1945–1959
Engine power used
After the 1945 gale damage, engine power was employed for several years.
Sources and records
Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology photographic record
Windmill World site entry
Mills Archive record
List of windmills in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire Windmills by Peter Dolman
Windmill World site entry
Mills Archive record
List of windmills in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire Windmills by Peter Dolman