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Listed tower survives
The tower survives as a Grade II listed building owned by the National Trust.
Site overview
The coordinates identify Blakeney Tower Windmill, a brick tower mill east of Blakeney, rather than Cley Windmill. The mill was built in 1769 and served as a corn mill. Its surviving tower stands on Friar Farm, within a static caravan site, and is owned by the National Trust.
The mill was originally worked with common sails and a tailpole, powering two pairs of grindstones. Later nineteenth-century alteration gave the mill four patent double-shuttered sails, three pairs of stones, a horizontally boarded dome cap, petticoat, gallery and eight-bladed fan. The tower is Grade II listed.
The consulted sources describe the mill as surviving, but do not identify a final working date.
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
Blakeney Tower Windmill was built in 1769 on Friar Farm, east of the village of Blakeney. It was a corn mill and in its earlier working form used common sails and a tailpole to power two pairs of grindstones. The tower is described as standing over four storeys and about 32 feet high.
The doors and windows have Gothic arches, a feature associated with later rebuilding work in the nineteenth century. During that period the mill was altered with four patent double-shuttered sails, which were struck by rack and pinion through a chain pole and drove three pairs of stones. Historic descriptions record a horizontally boarded dome cap with finial, a sixteen-sided petticoat, a gallery and an eight-bladed fan.
The building is now owned by the National Trust and stands in a static caravan site. It is listed at Grade II for its historic interest. No final working date was identified in the consulted sources.
Timeline
1769
Tower mill built
Blakeney Tower Windmill was built at Friar Farm east of Blakeney.
1800–1899
Nineteenth-century alteration
The mill was altered with patent double-shuttered sails, three pairs of stones, a dome cap, petticoat, gallery and eight-bladed fan.
Sources and records
Norfolk Mills entry for Blakeney tower windmill
Historic England listing information for Blakeney Tower Windmill
Windmill World entry for Blakeney tower mill
Historic England listing information for Blakeney Tower Windmill
Windmill World entry for Blakeney tower mill