1700–1799
Tower corn mill built
Gibbet Mill was built in the eighteenth century as a tower corn mill.
Site overview
Gibbet Mill at Great Saughall is a converted tower corn mill on Parkgate Road. Built in the eighteenth century, it became known as Gibbet Mill from a local murder tradition associated with bodies displayed nearby. Around 1900 it was fitted with a fantail, an unusual feature for a Wirral windmill.
The mill ceased work in 1926 and later fell into disrepair. It was listed at Grade II in 1952 and converted to a house in the 1970s, when replica sails were fitted by millwright Derek Ogden. The building survives as a prominent converted windmill in the Great Saughall landscape.
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
Gibbet Mill is an eighteenth-century tower corn mill at Great Saughall. It stands on Parkgate Road and is also recorded as Saughall Windmill. Its best-known name, Gibbet Mill, is attached to a local tradition of a murder near the mill, after which the bodies of the murderers were said to have been hung from a nearby tree.
The mill worked as a tower corn mill. Around 1900 it was fitted with a fantail, making it probably the only Wirral windmill to have that feature. Historic photographs from the early twentieth century show the mill with working windmill equipment, including shuttered sails and fantail. It ceased work in 1926 and then passed into disrepair.
The mill was listed at Grade II in 1952. Later photographic records show it derelict, with three sails and parts of the cap surviving, before its conversion to residential use in the 1970s. During that conversion it was given replica sails made by millwright Derek Ogden. Gibbet Mill now survives as a house-converted tower mill, retaining the form of a Cheshire windmill after the loss of its original working role.
Timeline
1900
Fantail installed
A fantail was fitted around 1900, making the mill unusual among Wirral windmills.
1926
Mill ceased work
Gibbet Mill ceased working in 1926.
1952
Grade II listed building designation
Gibbet Mill was listed at Grade II.
1958
Derelict mill photographed
The mill was photographed derelict with three sails and the cap gone.
1970–1979
Converted to residential use
The former tower mill was converted into a house and fitted with replica sails by Derek Ogden.
Sources and records
Historic England listed building entry
Windmill World site entry
Mills Archive site record
Guy Blythman Windmill Photographic Register
Muggeridge Collection photographic references
Windmill World site entry
Mills Archive site record
Guy Blythman Windmill Photographic Register
Muggeridge Collection photographic references