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Drainage and grist-milling functions
The mill pumped water by scoop wheel and also contained a small pair of stones for grinding animal feed.
Site overview
Swim Coots Mill is a tower mill at Catfield in Norfolk. It was built as a drainage mill on the edge of Hickling Broad, standing beside a dyke at the end of a long track through marsh and reed beds. The mill also contained a small pair of stones for grinding animal feed, giving it a dual drainage and grist-milling role.
It had a Norfolk boat-shaped cap, patent sails and a rare seven-bladed fantail. The mill was working until at least the 1930s, was derelict by the late twentieth century, and has since been conserved with some machinery surviving.
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
Swim Coots Mill stands in the Catfield marshland landscape near Hickling Broad. It was built primarily as a drainage mill, using wind power to pump water from the marshes. The mill also had a small pair of stones incorporated within the structure for grinding animal feed, so it combined drainage work with a limited grist-milling function.
The mill was a two-storey tower mill. It formerly had a Norfolk boat-shaped cap, patent sails and a rare seven-bladed fantail. Its drainage function was served by a scoop wheel, while the internal stones provided the additional animal-feed grinding capacity. The Gibbs family is associated with the mill and also ran Hickling Eastfield and Hickling Stubb mills.
Swim Coots Mill was marked on nineteenth-century mapping and was still working into the twentieth century. It was working until at least the 1930s but had become derelict by 1978. The mill has since been conserved, with the tower roofed over and some machinery retained. It survives as an unusual Norfolk Broads tower mill because its drainage role was combined with small-scale grist milling.
Timeline
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Mill conserved
The tower has been conserved and roofed over, with some machinery remaining.
1800–1838
Drainage tower mill built
Swim Coots Mill was built in the early nineteenth century as a drainage tower mill near Hickling Broad.
1838
Mill marked on map
The mill was marked on nineteenth-century mapping.
1930–1939
Working life continued
The mill was still working until at least the 1930s.
1978
Mill derelict
By 1978 the mill had become derelict.
Sources and records
Norfolk Mills entry: Catfield Swim Coots drainage mill
Windmill World entry: Swim Coots Mill, Catfield
Mills Archive record: Swim Coots Mill, Catfield
List of windmills in Norfolk
Windmill World entry: Swim Coots Mill, Catfield
Mills Archive record: Swim Coots Mill, Catfield
List of windmills in Norfolk