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Listed as Grade II
The surviving tower mill was listed at Grade II.
Site overview
Stansfield Mill is a Grade II listed tower corn mill at Stansfield in Suffolk. It was built in 1840, probably by William Bear of Sudbury, replacing an earlier post mill. The five-storey red-brick tower carried a dome-shaped cap, fantail, four patent sails, and two pairs of millstones.
The cap was removed in 1922 and the mill became derelict. The listed building description records the tower as red brick with partly missing cement render, circular in plan, with the upper courses partly missing and cap and sails removed since at least the 1920s. The mill remains important as a surviving tower mill shell, but not as an intact working mill.
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
Stansfield Mill was built in 1840 as a five-storey tower corn mill, replacing an earlier post mill. The datestone carries the initials W E for William Everard, and the mill was probably built by William Bear of Sudbury. It had four patent sails, a dome-shaped cap winded by a fantail, and two pairs of millstones.
The internal machinery was principally wooden, including a clasp-arm great spur wheel. The date when the mill ceased working has not been established, but the cap was removed in 1922 and the structure subsequently became derelict. The surviving tower is red brick with partly missing cement render and a battered circular form.
A few brick courses are missing at the top, and the cap and sails have been absent since at least the 1920s. The Grade II listing protects the surviving tower as a historic windmill structure. Stansfield Mill now survives as a derelict tower shell rather than as a complete or operational mill.
Timeline
1840
Stansfield Mill built
Stansfield Mill was built as a five-storey tower corn mill, replacing an earlier post mill.
1922
Cap removed
The cap was removed and the mill subsequently became derelict.
Sources and records
Historic England National Heritage List entry: Tower Mill Immediately West of Mill House, Stansfield
Stansfield Windmill article
Windmill World entry: Stansfield Mill
Suffolk Mills Group list: The Windmills of Suffolk
Stansfield Windmill article
Windmill World entry: Stansfield Mill
Suffolk Mills Group list: The Windmills of Suffolk