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Post mill site recorded
A supposed post mill site is recorded at Kirkstead before or alongside the later tower-mill history of the locality.
Site overview
Kirkstead Mill was a tower corn mill at Kirkstead, now within the Woodhall Spa area of Lincolnshire. The site lay near Mill Lane and Green Lane at Kirkstead Wharf, where the mill formed part of a small riverside milling and transport landscape beside the River Witham. Historic mill records identify the tower mill as a wind-powered corn mill, and local history records describe associated corn delivery, flour collection, and bakery activity in the area.
The mill no longer survives as a standing windmill, but its documented position preserves the memory of wind-powered milling within the older Kirkstead settlement.
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
Kirkstead had both post-mill and tower-mill history. A supposed post mill site is recorded at Kirkstead, while the later Kirkstead Mill was a tower corn mill associated with Kirkstead Wharf and the older route through Green Lane. Local accounts place the windmill at the corner of Mill Lane and Green Lane and describe a leat from the River Witham that allowed boats to bring corn to the mill and carry flour away.
A bakery also worked alongside the milling site, making the mill part of a small local food-production and river-transport landscape. Specialist mill records identify Kirkstead Mill as a tower corn mill at Woodhall Spa, and historic photographic material records the tower in derelict condition, roofless and without sails. The mill was still standing in the early twentieth century but had gone by the mid twentieth century.
The site is now best understood as a demolished tower mill site within the Kirkstead area, retaining significance through its recorded location and its relationship to the former wharf-side settlement.
Timeline
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Tower corn mill worked at Kirkstead
Kirkstead Mill operated as a tower corn mill associated with the Kirkstead Wharf area near Mill Lane and Green Lane.
1923
Mill still standing
The tower mill is recorded as still standing in 1923.
1953
Mill gone by mid twentieth century
The Kirkstead tower mill had gone by 1953.
Sources and records
Windmill World site entry
Mills Archive record
Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology catalogue
Woodhall Spa local history trail
Lincolnshire Heritage Explorer monument record
Mills Archive record
Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology catalogue
Woodhall Spa local history trail
Lincolnshire Heritage Explorer monument record