1846
Tower mill erected
Chilton Street Mill was erected in 1846 as a five-storey tower corn mill.
Site overview
Chilton Street Mill is a former wind-powered corn mill at Clare, Suffolk. It was erected in 1846 as a five-storey tower mill. The mill had four patent sails, a domed cap winded by a fantail, and two pairs of millstones.
It ceased work before the First World War after the sails were blown off. During the late 1920s or early 1930s the machinery was removed. The mill now survives as an empty derelict tower.
Its surviving form preserves the masonry shell of a nineteenth-century tower mill, but not its cap, sails, or internal machinery.
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
Chilton Street Mill was erected at Clare in 1846 as a wind-powered corn mill. It was a five-storey tower mill with a domed cap, a fantail, and four patent sails. The mill drove two pairs of millstones.
It formed part of the nineteenth-century milling landscape around Clare, but its working life ended before the First World War when the sails were blown off. After that loss the mill did not continue as a complete wind-powered mill. In the late 1920s or early 1930s its machinery was stripped out, leaving the tower as a shell.
The surviving structure is therefore an empty and derelict former tower mill. It retains the masonry body of the mill but lacks the cap, sails, and working equipment that defined its operational form.
Timeline
1914
Wind working ceased
The mill ceased work before the First World War after the sails were blown off.
1920–1935
Machinery removed
The machinery was removed in the late 1920s or early 1930s, leaving the tower as a shell.
Sources and records
Wikipedia article: Chilton Street Mill, Clare
Windmill World entry: Chilton Street windmill
Mills Archive entry: Chilton Street Mill, Clare
Kent Archive Muggeridge Collection record: Chilton Street Mill photograph
Windmill World entry: Chilton Street windmill
Mills Archive entry: Chilton Street Mill, Clare
Kent Archive Muggeridge Collection record: Chilton Street Mill photograph