Site overview
Waterhall Mill, also known as Westdene Windmill or Patcham Windmill, stands at Westdene. It was built in 1885 by James Holloway of Shoreham and was the last brick windmill built in Sussex. The mill worked until 1924, was used by the Home Guard during the Second World War, and was converted into a house in 1963.
Map
History
Waterhall Mill stands on the slopes of Coney Hill at Westdene. It is also known as Westdene Windmill or Patcham Windmill. The tower mill was built in 1885 by James Holloway of Shoreham and was the last brick windmill built in Sussex.
It is a four-storey brick tower mill with a domed cap, a five-bladed fantail, four spring patent sails on a cast-iron windshaft, and three pairs of underdrift millstones. Joseph Harris was associated with the mill from 1885 to 1903. The mill worked until 1924.
During the Second World War it was used by the Home Guard as a lookout post. It was listed in 1952 and converted into a house in 1963, retaining machinery and receiving external restoration. New sweeps were erected in 1972, and the cap was partly rebuilt after lightning damage in 1990.
Timeline
Windmill stopped working
Home Guard lookout use
Mill listed
Mill converted to house
New sweeps erected
Sources and records
Westdene local history article
Grade II listed buildings in Brighton and Hove: W-Z
Brighton and Hove News article: Baron found hiding in a Brighton Windmill
List of windmills in East Sussex