1809
Windmill recorded on Blackthorn Hill
A windmill existed on Blackthorn Hill by 1809.
Site overview
West Mill, Blackthorn, is the western tower mill site on Blackthorn Hill. A windmill existed on the hill by 1809, and Ordnance Survey maps from 1880 onwards showed two tower mills there. West Mill had a rendered exterior and a fantail.
By the early 1980s its remains had been reduced to the lower part of the tower. Specialist mill records identify it as West Mill, Blackthorn, a former tower corn mill, and describe the structure as truncated by 1983. The available evidence confirms its identity, tower-mill type, corn-milling function, rendered exterior, former fantail, and later truncation, but does not provide a detailed working chronology, machinery inventory, or final milling 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
West Mill, Blackthorn, stood on Blackthorn Hill, west of East Mill. A windmill was present on the hill by 1809, and later nineteenth-century Ordnance Survey maps showed two tower mills at Blackthorn. West Mill was a tower corn mill and is distinguished from East Mill by its rendered exterior and former fantail.
By the early 1980s West Mill had been reduced to the lower part of the tower. Specialist windmill records identify it as West Mill, Blackthorn, and state that by 1983 the former tower mill had been truncated. It therefore survives as a much reduced mill structure rather than a complete tower. The sources establish the site identity, former tower-mill character, corn-milling function, and later truncation. They do not identify a construction date, named millers, machinery details, or exact final working date for this mill.
Timeline
1880
West Mill mapped
Ordnance Survey maps from 1880 onwards showed two tower mills on Blackthorn Hill, including West Mill.
1983
Tower truncated
By 1983 the former tower mill had been truncated and reduced to the lower part of the tower.
Sources and records
Windmill World entry: Blackthorn West Mill
Mills Archive catalogue entry: West Mill, Blackthorn
Oxfordshire heritage image notes for Blackthorn windmills
Wikipedia article: Blackthorn, Oxfordshire
Mills Archive catalogue entry: West Mill, Blackthorn
Oxfordshire heritage image notes for Blackthorn windmills
Wikipedia article: Blackthorn, Oxfordshire