Melin Llidiart Capel Coch · Isle of Anglesey · Wales

Melin Llidiart stands set back from the west side of the road running north through Capel Coch, at the south end of the village. It is also known as Capel Coch Mill or Melin Llwydiarth. The name Melin Llidiart is used in specialist windmill sources, while local usage has often associated the tower with Capel Coch.

The mill is one of the earliest recorded windmills on Anglesey. William Bulkeley's diary recorded that it started grinding grain on 24 October 1738, during the mid eighteenth-century period when drought conditions encouraged the construction of wind-powered mills on the island. The present tower is a full-height, three-storey circular windmill tower of mortared sandstone rubble masonry, partly rendered and now roofless in the Cadw description. It has a doorway facing the road to the east and rectangular upper-floor window openings with rough voussoir heads.

The nineteenth-century history of the mill is comparatively well recorded. In 1821 Llidiart Twrcelyn, the property on which the mill stood, was leased by William Prichard Lloyd to William Rowlands. By 1839 it was owned by Richard Rowlands, who left it to his son Richard. The 1842 tithe apportionment listed Richard Rowlands as both owner and occupier, and the tithe map unusually depicted the windmill itself. In 1853 the mill, adjoining dwelling house, and drying kiln were put up for auction and were bought by John Griffiths of Llanfechell. The sale description referred to recent building, although the recorded 1738 milling date suggests either earlier rebuilding or a more complex site history.

By 1861 Hugh Prichard was miller. He continued to run the mill until his death in 1885. His widow Jane took over, employing Hugh Hughes as miller. The mill was listed in Slater's Directory in 1883 with Hugh Prichard as miller, and by the 1895 directory his wife had taken over. Not long after that entry, storms damaged the cap and sails so badly that the mill did not work again. The tower slowly deteriorated and became overgrown, but the surrounding land was later cleared and the structure again became prominent. Planning proposals for conversion were made in the twenty-first century, and by 2017 the tower had been roofed and refurbished with a two-storey extension under construction. Melin Llidiart was listed at Grade II in 1970 as a substantially intact windmill tower and one of the earliest surviving windmills recorded on Anglesey.