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Converted to residential use
The former tower mill was later converted into a house.
Site overview
Swingate Mill, also known as Guston Mill, is a Grade II listed tower corn mill at Guston near Dover. It was built in 1849 for John Mummery, using the cap, sails, windshaft, and brake wheel from a proposed mill intended for the Rope Walk at Dover. The four-storey brick tower mill had patent sails on a cast-iron windshaft, fantail winding, a first-floor stage, and three pairs of underdrift millstones.
The Mummery family worked the mill for 73 years. Wind-powered working continued until 1943, when enemy fire damaged the sails. A new pair of sails was fitted in 1947, but the mill was tail-winded in 1959 and lost its cap and sails.
It was later converted into a house.
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
Swingate Mill stands at Guston, near Dover, and is also known as Guston Mill. It was built in 1849 for John Mummery. The mill incorporated the cap, sails, windshaft, and brake wheel from a windmill that had been intended for the Rope Walk in Dover but was not erected there because of concerns about the proposed site.
The mill was a four-storey brick tower corn mill with a Kentish-style cap. It had four patent sails carried on a cast-iron windshaft and was turned to wind by a fantail with six blades. A stage stood at first-floor level. Internally, the mill drove three pairs of underdrift millstones, and the main machinery was of cast iron. The Mummery family worked the mill for 73 years, beginning with John Mummery from 1849 to 1907 and continuing with Ebenezer A. Mummery from 1907 to 1918. Later millers included George Sheaff from 1922 to 1930 and Thompsett from 1930 to 1947.
The mill worked by wind until 1943, when its sails were damaged by enemy fire during the Second World War. A new pair of sails was fitted in 1947, but in 1959 the mill was tail-winded and lost its cap and sails. The tower was later converted into a house. Swingate Mill remains a listed tower-mill survival, preserving the form of a nineteenth-century corn mill in the downland landscape above Dover.
Timeline
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Grade II listed
Swingate Mill is protected as a Grade II listed tower mill.
1849
Tower mill built
Swingate Mill was built for John Mummery as a four-storey brick tower corn mill.
1849
Reused machinery installed
The mill incorporated the cap, sails, windshaft, and brake wheel from a proposed Dover Rope Walk windmill.
1849–1907
John Mummery worked the mill
John Mummery worked Swingate Mill from its construction in 1849 until 1907.
1907–1918
Ebenezer A. Mummery worked the mill
Ebenezer A. Mummery continued the Mummery family connection with the mill from 1907 to 1918.
1922–1930
George Sheaff worked the mill
George Sheaff is recorded as miller at Swingate Mill from 1922 to 1930.
1943
Sails damaged by enemy fire
The mill worked by wind until 1943, when enemy fire damaged the sails.
1947
New pair of sails fitted
A new pair of sails was fitted after the wartime damage.
1959
Cap and sails lost
The mill was tail-winded in 1959 and lost its cap and sails.
Sources and records
Historic England Archive photograph description
Windmill World site entry
Wikipedia article: Swingate Mill, Guston
Mills Archive site record
Kent windmill reference works
Directory of Kent Mill People
Windmill World site entry
Wikipedia article: Swingate Mill, Guston
Mills Archive site record
Kent windmill reference works
Directory of Kent Mill People