1596
Early Rye windmill site
A windmill site at Rye was in use by 1596.
Site overview
Rye Old Mill was a post mill on the Rye windmill site. A post mill was present by 1758 and replaced an earlier windmill association at Rye. The post mill was later replaced by the smock mill built in 1824, known as New Mill, Gibbet Mill, Tillingham Mill, or Barry's Mill.
The post-mill phase does not survive as a standing structure.
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
Rye had a windmill site by the sixteenth century, and a post mill was present by 1758. This post mill became known as Rye Old Mill. It preceded the later smock mill phase of the same windmill tradition at Rye.
In 1824 the post mill was replaced by a smock mill, later known as New Mill, Gibbet Mill, Tillingham Mill, or Barry's Mill. The later smock mill was destroyed by fire in 1930 and subsequently replaced by a non-working reconstruction on the original base. The earlier post-mill phase has not survived as a standing structure.
Timeline
1758
Post mill in use
A post mill was present at the Rye windmill site by 1758.
1824
Post mill replaced
The Rye post mill was replaced by a smock mill in 1824.
Sources and records
Wikipedia article: List of windmills in East Sussex
Windmill World: Sussex windmills
Alamy image caption for Rye Old Mill
Windmill World: Sussex windmills
Alamy image caption for Rye Old Mill