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Patent sails and stones fitted
The mill was later fitted with four double-shuttered patent sails driving two pairs of stones and a flour mill.
Site overview
Mulbarton Tower Mill is a former tower corn mill at Mulbarton in Norfolk. It stood east of Norwich Road, close to the Mulbarton parish boundary. The small tarred red-brick tower was about 27 feet high and had three storeys.
It was built with common sails, later replaced by four double-shuttered patent sails, and worked two pairs of stones and a flour mill. The mill had a Norfolk boat-shaped cap with a six-bladed fan and petticoat. By 1973 the building was an ivy-covered shell with only floor beams remaining, but the brick tower still survives.
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
Mulbarton Tower Mill stood to the east of Norwich Road, a few yards inside the Mulbarton parish boundary. It was a small tower corn mill, built around 1824. The tarred red-brick tower was one of the smaller Norfolk tower mills, with three storeys and a height of about 27 feet.
The mill was built with common sails, which came close to the ground and had to be set by hand. Later it was fitted with four double-shuttered patent sails, each with eight bays of three shutters, struck by rack and pinion. These powered two pairs of stones and a flour mill. The Norfolk boat-shaped cap had a six-bladed fan and a petticoat. The arrangement gave the small tower a full working corn-milling capability despite its modest size.
Mulbarton local history records that Alfred Thompson of Mulbarton smock mill also worked the tower mill for a time. The mill declined after its working life ended. By 1973 it was an ivy-covered, junk-filled shell with only the floor beams remaining, standing at the end of a track from the road amid a car scrap yard. Photographic records from 1990 show the continued survival of the tower. Mulbarton Tower Mill remains a standing remnant of the village's former wind-powered corn-milling landscape.
Timeline
1824
Tower mill built
Mulbarton Tower Mill was built around 1824 east of Norwich Road near the parish boundary.
1824–1826
Mill shown on Bryant's map
The tower mill was shown on Bryant's Map of Norfolk, surveyed in 1824 to 1826.
1881
Mill marked on Ordnance Survey map
The tower mill was marked on the 1881 Ordnance Survey map.
1973
Tower shell recorded
By 1973 the mill was an ivy-covered shell with only the floor beams remaining.
1983
Working association recorded
Harry G. Lambert of Old Mill House reported that Alfred Thompson of Mulbarton smock mill also worked the tower mill for a while.
1990
Surviving tower photographed
Photographic records show the surviving tower in 1990.
Sources and records
Norfolk Mills entry: Mulbarton tower windmill
Mulbarton History page: Millers
Windmill World entry: Mulbarton windmill
Mills Archive record: Tower mill, Mulbarton
Mulbarton History page: Millers
Windmill World entry: Mulbarton windmill
Mills Archive record: Tower mill, Mulbarton