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Ruined tower survives
The former tower corn mill survives in ruined condition.
Site overview
Foston Mill is a ruined tower corn mill at Foston on the Wolds in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The windmill was built in the early nineteenth century and was still in use in 1850. By 1892 it had gone out of use, with corn milling in the area carried on by Foston water mill.
The surviving structure is a ruined tower rather than a complete working mill, but it remains a visible part of the village's milling landscape and should be recorded separately from the nearby water-milling history of Foston Beck.
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
Foston Mill was a wind-powered tower corn mill at Foston on the Wolds. It stood in a village landscape where milling had long been associated with Foston Beck and the water mill, but the windmill formed a separate nineteenth-century corn-milling site.
The tower mill was built in the early nineteenth century. It was still in use in 1850, but by 1892 it had gone out of use. Local accounts connect this change with the continued use of Foston water mill, which milled corn for surrounding villages including Brigham and North Frodingham. The windmill was therefore part of a mixed milling landscape in which wind and water power both contributed to local corn processing.
The mill no longer survives as a working structure. The remaining tower is ruined, but the survival is substantial enough to preserve the location and form of the former windmill. Foston Mill should be recorded as a ruined tower corn mill and kept distinct from Foston water mill and the older fulling and water-milling history of the village.
Timeline
1800–1830
Tower mill built
Foston Mill was built in the early nineteenth century as a tower corn mill.
1850
Mill still working
The windmill was still in use in 1850.
1892
Windmill out of use
By 1892 the windmill had gone out of use, while Foston water mill continued corn milling for nearby villages.
Sources and records
Windmill World entry: Foston Mill, Foston on the Wolds
Mills Archive record: Foston Mill
Geograph photograph: Ruined Mill, Foston on the Wolds
Local historical notes on Foston on the Wolds
Mills Archive record: Foston Mill
Geograph photograph: Ruined Mill, Foston on the Wolds
Local historical notes on Foston on the Wolds