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Converted to domestic use
The former tower corn mill was converted to domestic use and survives without sails.
Site overview
North Mill is one of the two surviving Clavering tower windmills at Mill End. Built for James Pavitt in 1811, it was a five-storey red brick tower corn mill with a domed or beehive cap and fantail. It had four single patent sails, a wooden upright shaft, a clasp-arm great spur wheel, and three pairs of overdrift millstones.
In 1919 Thomas Hunt of Soham installed a 16 hp oil engine, and the sails were removed around that time, although the mill continued to work by engine for many years. The tower has since been converted to domestic use and survives without sails. It was listed at Grade II on 22 February 1980 under the official name Windmill Approximately 180 Metres North East of the Mills and Shop.
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
North Mill stands at Mill End, Clavering, and is the northern member of the surviving pair of Clavering tower mills. It was built for James Pavitt in 1811 and worked in association with the older post mill at Clavering until 1845.
The mill was a five-storey red brick tower mill with a domed or beehive cap, winded by a fantail. It carried four single patent sails rotating clockwise. Its internal machinery included a wooden upright shaft and a clasp-arm great spur wheel driving three pairs of overdrift millstones.
Power was supplemented after the end of regular wind working. In 1919 Thomas Hunt, the Soham millwright, installed a 16 hp oil engine. The sails were removed around the same time, but the mill continued to work by engine for many years. Later photographs and specialist records show the mill after conversion to domestic use.
The tower was listed at Grade II on 22 February 1980 under the official name Windmill Approximately 180 Metres North East of the Mills and Shop. The listing describes a red brick tower windmill dated 1811, four storeys, with a domed cap and no sails. The surviving building is now a converted former tower corn mill and remains part of the distinctive paired windmill landscape at Clavering Mill End.
Timeline
1811
North Mill constructed
North Mill was built for James Pavitt in 1811.
1811–1845
Worked with Clavering post mill
North Mill worked in conjunction with the earlier Clavering post mill until 1845.
1919
Oil engine installed
Thomas Hunt of Soham installed a 16 hp oil engine at North Mill.
1919
Sails removed
The sails were removed around the time the oil engine was installed, although the mill continued to work by engine.
1980
Grade II listing
North Mill was listed at Grade II under the official name Windmill Approximately 180 Metres North East of the Mills and Shop.
Sources and records
Historic England listed building entry
Windmill World site entry
Mills Archive site record
Clavering Windmills reference
Geograph photographic records
Windmill World site entry
Mills Archive site record
Clavering Windmills reference
Geograph photographic records