Site overview

Mount Pleasant Mill is a four-sailed brick tower mill north of Kirton in Lindsey on North Cliff Road. The Grade II listed mill stands on the Lincoln Edge, where its elevated farmland setting gives wide views over the Trent Valley. Built in 1875 for miller Edric Lansdall, it replaced an earlier post mill and retains the characteristic Lincolnshire onion-shaped ogee cap and fantail.

The mill worked by wind into the twentieth century, later used diesel power, and was restored to working order in 1991. It remains a commercially working flour mill with associated bakery use.

Map

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No site photograph is currently available. Images will be added as field visits are carried out.

History

Mount Pleasant Mill was built in 1875 for miller Edric Lansdall on the site and remaining roundhouse of an earlier post mill, also known as North Mill or Far Mill, which had been lost after a gale in the 1870s. The new structure was a slightly tapering four-storeyed tarred brick tower mill with four patent sails, an onion-shaped ogee cap, and a fantail. The initials E.L. and the date 1875 are carved above the loading door, marking the mill's construction for Lansdall.

The mill was designed as a wind-powered corn mill. It originally had three pairs of millstones on the stone floor, including two pairs of Derbyshire Peak stones and one pair of French stone. Its structure incorporated the handmade-brick roundhouse of the former post mill below the machine-made brick tower, leaving a subtle change in fabric within the lower part of the building.

Wind working continued until 1933, and the sails were removed in the 1930s. Milling then continued with auxiliary power, including a single-cylinder Crossley diesel engine, and the mill remained in use until 1973. The surviving machinery is notable for retaining much original and unrestored equipment from the 1920s and 1930s, including the original cap with its oak cap frame, cast-iron windshaft, wallower, upright shaft and great spur wheel, together with the brake wheel, wooden brake, elevator arrangements, stones, and hurst framing.

Restoration in 1991 returned the mill to working order and reinstated its sails. The restored mill became a commercially working flour mill producing organic flour, with bread made in the bakery alongside. On 29 November 2015 high winds damaged the mill, tearing off two sails and the tail-fan. Milling continued using electric power while the damaged wind gear was addressed. The Grade II listed mill remains a prominent working survival of Lincolnshire's tower-mill tradition on the ridge above Kirton in Lindsey.

Timeline

1875

Tower mill constructed

Mount Pleasant Mill was built for miller Edric Lansdall as a four-sailed tarred brick tower mill on the roundhouse of an earlier post mill.
1933

Wind working ended

The mill worked by wind until 1933.
1936

Sails removed

The sails were removed during the 1930s after the end of wind working.
1973

Auxiliary milling ended

Milling by diesel auxiliary power continued until 1973.
1991

Mill restored to working order

Restoration returned Mount Pleasant Mill to working order and reinstated its four sails.
2015

Wind damage to sails and fantail

High winds damaged the mill, tearing off two sails and the tail-fan; milling continued using auxiliary power.

Sources and records

Historic England listed building record
Windmill World site entry
Mills Archive site record
North Lincolnshire industrial heritage record
Kirton in Lindsey conservation area appraisal
Visit Lincolnshire entry