1816
Permission granted for windmill
Charles March received permission to build a windmill on Wimbledon Common.
Site overview
Wimbledon Windmill was built on Wimbledon Common in 1817 as a hollow-post corn mill. It was no longer working by the later nineteenth century and became associated with the National Rifle Association during its Wimbledon meetings. In 1893 the mill was rebuilt externally as a smock mill while preserving its hollow-post origin.
It is now maintained as a museum by the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators.
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
Wimbledon Windmill was built on Wimbledon Common in 1817 after Charles March, a carpenter from Roehampton, received permission to build a mill. It was designed as a hollow-post corn mill, with the drive to the stones passing through the centre of the main post. The working mill had four patent sails, a cast-iron windshaft and fantail winding.
By the 1870s the old windmill had been adapted as headquarters for the National Rifle Association during its annual meetings on the common. In 1893 the building was preserved by conversion from its working hollow-post form into a smock-like external form, with work carried out by Sanderson's of Louth. The mill later became a museum devoted to windmill history.
Robert Baden-Powell stayed in the Mill House in 1902 and wrote parts of Scouting for Boys there in 1908. On 2 August 2015 a sail fell from the mill after long-term water ingress; the sails were restored in 2016. The mill remains a Grade II* listed museum on Wimbledon Common.
Timeline
1817
Hollow-post corn mill built
Wimbledon Windmill was built as a hollow-post corn mill.
1870–1879
Rifle Association use
The former working mill was used as headquarters during National Rifle Association meetings on Wimbledon Common.
1893
Rebuilt as smock-form mill
The hollow-post mill was preserved and externally rebuilt in smock-mill form.
2015
Sail fell from mill
A sail fell from the mill after long-term water ingress.
2016
Sails restored
The mill sails were restored after the 2015 sail fall.
Sources and records
Historic England National Heritage List entry
Windmill World Wimbledon mill entry
Wimbledon Windmill Museum history
Wikipedia article: Wimbledon Windmill
Mills Archive Wimbledon Windmill record
British History Online Old and New London, Volume 6
List of windmills in London
Windmill World Wimbledon mill entry
Wimbledon Windmill Museum history
Wikipedia article: Wimbledon Windmill
Mills Archive Wimbledon Windmill record
British History Online Old and New London, Volume 6
List of windmills in London