Hoveton St John Belaugh Post Mill Hoveton St John · Norfolk · England

Hoveton St John postmill stood north of the village and was also known as Belaugh Mill. Norfolk Mills records that the parish boundary ran through the site, but the mill itself stood on the Hoveton side. It had a two-storey roundhouse and a twin fantail. The sails powered two pairs of stones, while a steam engine drove a further pair of 4 ft stones. When machinery was advertised for sale after the fire, the listed items included a cast-iron windshaft, indicating that the mill was probably using patent sails. The wallower was also cast iron.

The mill is recorded in the will of Edward Wright of Postwick, dated 17 June 1761 and proved on 11 March 1765, which referred to the windmill commonly called Belaugh Mill and land in Hoveton St John. It appears on Faden's map of 1797 as Belaugh Mill. William Cadge was recorded as miller in the 1802 poll book, and Michael Cadge senior was associated with the mill by 1818. Bryant's 1826 map and the 1838 Ordnance Survey map both recorded the windmill. White's 1836 and 1845 directories listed Michael Cadge as corn miller, and the 1841 and 1851 census records place Cadge family members and mill workers at Belaugh Mill.

In April 1864 the mill was advertised to let as a large and powerful post windmill with roundhouse, chamber over, granaries, residence, barn, stables, outbuildings, yards, garden and about ten acres of arable land, then in the occupation of E. Scales. The notice stated that a good trade had been carried on there for many years. In 1867 William Chapman's estate was conveyed for the benefit of creditors, and in September that year Hoveton Mill was advertised to let with immediate possession. Later notices sought a man to work the windmill and understand baking, and in 1871 a four-horsepower steam engine was wanted to drive a pair of millstones.

By 1872 the site had diversified. John Martin advertised from Belaugh Mill that he continued manufacturing artificial manure and sought to revive the salt trade formerly carried on there by William Cadge. Henry Paddle was recorded as miller in the later 1870s and in 1881. In June 1881, after a fire, costly mill machinery salvaged from the fire was advertised for auction on Henry Paddle's premises at Hoveton St John. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1881. Later recollections recorded that the roundhouse still existed in the 1930s and that some buildings of the artificial fertilizer factory survived as late as the 1970s. In 2010 the miller's house at Hoveton was demolished to make way for a farmhouse-style replacement, leaving the historic mill site cleared apart from Mill Farm next door.