1818
Brick tower dated
The brick tower of Gentleshaw Mill is recorded as dating to 1818.
Site overview
Gentleshaw windmill survives as remains within the grounds of Ye Olde Windmill Inn. The brick tower is recorded as dating to 1818, and the mill had ceased operation by 1902. Later accounts continue to associate the standing remains with the inn, where the former mill forms part of the site's historic character.
An original millstone was recorded inside the pub in 1958. The surviving tower is no longer a working mill, and no detailed evidence for its machinery, sail arrangement, or ownership sequence has been identified beyond its date, closure, and relationship with the inn. Its present character is a post-industrial landmark retained in a public-house setting at Gentleshaw.
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
Gentleshaw windmill was a wind-powered mill whose brick tower is recorded as dating to 1818. The mill stood beside what is now Ye Olde Windmill Inn, and the remains still stand within the grounds of the public house. By 1902 the mill was no longer in use, marking the end of its working life as a windmill.
Later records describe the surviving remains as part of the inn setting rather than as a complete industrial structure. In 1958 an original millstone was recorded as being preserved inside the pub. The available evidence does not identify the full machinery arrangement, the precise date when the sails or cap were removed, or a detailed sequence of millers and owners.
The main documented survival is the former brick tower, retained as a local landmark and closely associated with the long-standing public house at Gentleshaw.
Timeline
1902
Mill no longer in use
Gentleshaw windmill had ceased operation by 1902.
1958
Millstone recorded in pub
An original millstone was recorded as being preserved inside the public house.
Sources and records
Staffordshire Past Track record: Gentleshaw windmill
Ye Olde Windmill Inn history page
Pub Lore article: Ye Olde Windmill, Gentleshaw
List of windmills in Staffordshire summary
Ye Olde Windmill Inn history page
Pub Lore article: Ye Olde Windmill, Gentleshaw
List of windmills in Staffordshire summary