Potter Heigham Tower Mill Potter Heigham · Norfolk · England

Potter Heigham Tower Mill was built in 1849 to replace an earlier post mill on or near the same site. The six-storey red-brick tower was built for Simon Boyce by the Suffolk millwrights Martins. It was 54 feet high, with a ground-floor internal diameter of 23 feet and 18-inch-thick walls.

Wind power came from four double-shuttered patent sails, each with nine bays of three shutters, struck by rack and pinion. The white Norfolk boat-shaped cap had a petticoat, an eight-bladed fan, and a chain pole. The sails powered two pairs of French burr stones, a flour mill, jumper, and sack hoist.

By 1900 a Ransomes 10 horsepower steam engine was being used for auxiliary power. Internal details recorded later included a six-armed iron mortise great spur wheel, two stone nuts, a hollow iron upright shaft, two pairs of underdriven French burr stones, and sack-hoist gearing. Inscriptions inside the mill recorded George Boyce in 1849, William Boyce arriving in 1890, Simon Boyce's death in 1898, Edward Bristow taking the mill in 1900, sale to J. Blaxell in August 1919, and installation of an electric motor on 1 December 1933.

Simon Boyce was listed as corn miller and farmer in the nineteenth century. The mill was advertised for sale in 1889 following Simonds Boyce's bankruptcy, and William Boyce took it over on 15 October 1890. Edward Bristow took over in 1900, and John Blaxell bought the mill in August 1919.

By 1930 and 1934 the mill was described externally as derelict, but it continued in some form, with an electric motor installed in 1933 and engine working recorded in 1949. In October 1953 a conical galvanised metal cap was fitted by Arthur Webber & Sons Ltd. In 1971 some machinery remained inside, although the sails and original cap had gone. A 2009 appeal described the mill as a 65-foot high Grade II listed landmark whose sails had been taken down in 1949 and which had stood empty since, with brickwork and roof repairs needed.