1844
Millwright work recorded
James Neal worked on the mill, and his name and the date 1844 were present on ironwork inside it.
Site overview
Henfield Common Mill, also known as the New Mill or Barringer's Mill, was a post mill on the edge of the Lydds at Henfield. It stood in what later became the garden of Mill House. The mill probably drove three pairs of stones and had a black-painted body.
It was working in the nineteenth century, later used as an observatory, and was destroyed by fire in the 1950s.
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
Henfield Common Mill stood above the Lydds at Henfield, in the garden area of the later Mill House. It was a post mill, with the body turning on a central post. The mill was known as the New Mill or Barringer's Mill and was associated with the later phase of wind-powered corn milling at Henfield.
Its construction date is uncertain, but millwright James Neal worked on it in the 1840s, and the inscription 'J. NEAL MILLWRIGHT 1844' was found on ironwork inside the mill. The mill probably drove three pairs of stones, including two pairs of peak stones and a pair of French burrs. It remained in use during the nineteenth century and was still functioning in the 1890s.
At a later date a glass structure was added to the roof and the mill was used as an observatory by Eardley Hall of Barrow Hill House. Its millstones and machinery were removed. In 1936 the mill retained a single-storey black tarred-brick roundhouse and three of its four sweeps.
It was later set on fire and destroyed in the 1950s.
Timeline
1881
Arthur Smith operated the mill
Arthur Smith was miller at Henfield Common Mill and employed five men.
1890–1899
Mill still functioning
The mill was still functioning during the 1890s.
1936
Disused mill retained three sweeps
The mill had a single-storey black tarred-brick roundhouse and retained three of its four sweeps.
1950–1959
Mill destroyed by fire
The mill was set on fire and destroyed during the 1950s.
Sources and records
Henfield Then and Now: Common windmill
Henfield Museum article: An Old Sentinel, the Nep Town Windmill
Sussex Mills Group Henfield windmills entry
Mills Archive catalogue material
Henfield Museum article: An Old Sentinel, the Nep Town Windmill
Sussex Mills Group Henfield windmills entry
Mills Archive catalogue material