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Converted for accommodation
The former mill was restored and converted for holiday accommodation as the Old Smock Mill.
Site overview
Beacon Mill at Benenden is a former smock mill now known in its converted form as the Old Smock Mill. Historic windmill lists record the northern Beacon Mill at TQ 821 325 and give 1821 as its first recorded or built date. It worked until 1921.
The surviving building was later converted and restored, retaining the recognisable smock-mill form within the Wealden landscape. Present accommodation sources describe the Old Smock Mill as a four-storey restored former mill, built in the early nineteenth century and adapted for holiday use. The site therefore preserves a converted smock mill rather than a working corn mill.
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
Beacon Mill at Benenden was one of a pair of smock mills associated with the area. The northern Beacon Mill is recorded at TQ 821 325 and was built or first recorded in 1821. It worked as a wind-powered smock mill through the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century, continuing until 1921.
After its working life ended, the mill survived and was later converted. Modern accommodation material identifies the surviving building as the Old Smock Mill, a restored four-storey former mill set in the Benenden countryside. The conversion preserves the character of the smock-mill body while adapting the interior for domestic and holiday use. Although the mill no longer operates as a working windmill, the converted structure remains a prominent survival of Benenden's wind-powered milling history and one of the area's visible early nineteenth-century mill buildings.
Timeline
1821
Smock mill built
Beacon Mill at Benenden was built or first recorded in 1821.
1921
Working use ended
The Benenden smock mill worked until 1921.
Sources and records
Old Smock Mill Benenden website
Visit Kent accommodation entry
Windmill World site entry
List of windmills in Kent
Host Unusual Old Smock Mill article
Visit Kent accommodation entry
Windmill World site entry
List of windmills in Kent
Host Unusual Old Smock Mill article