1812
Smock mill built
Watts Cross Windmill was built in 1812 as a smock corn mill.
Site overview
Watts Cross Windmill was a smock corn mill on Mill Lane, Hildenborough. Built in 1812, it worked until 1910 and was taken down in 1961, leaving a ruined base. Photographic records from the early twentieth century show the mill in working or late-working context, including cereal being loaded onto a cart.
Later image records identify the remains in the garden of The Old Mill House. The surviving fabric is now a ruinous base rather than a complete smock mill, but it preserves the site of Hildenborough's former wind-powered 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
Watts Cross Windmill was a smock corn mill at Hildenborough. It stood on Mill Lane and was built in 1812. The mill worked as a wind-powered corn mill for nearly a century, continuing until 1910.
Early twentieth-century photographic records show the mill in its working landscape, including bags of cereal being loaded onto a cart from Watts Cross smock mill between about 1900 and 1910. After the end of milling, the structure survived for several decades before being taken down in 1961. The removal left a ruined base.
The remains are recorded in the garden of The Old Mill House on Mill Lane. The cap, sails, smock body, and working machinery have gone, but the base preserves the lower footprint of the former mill. Watts Cross Windmill therefore survives as a ruinous but identifiable remnant of Hildenborough's wind-powered corn-milling history.
Timeline
1900–1910
Working mill photographed
Photographs show bags of cereal being loaded onto a cart from Watts Cross smock mill.
1910
Milling ended
Watts Cross Windmill worked until 1910.
1961
Mill taken down
The smock mill was taken down in 1961, leaving the ruined base.
2002
Ruinous base photographed
The remains of the windmill in the garden of The Old Mill House were photographed on 25 August 2002.
Sources and records
Windmill World site entry
Historic England Archive photograph record
List of windmills in Kent
Mills Archive catalogue references
Hildenborough historical image notes
Historic England Archive photograph record
List of windmills in Kent
Mills Archive catalogue references
Hildenborough historical image notes