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Smock corn mill recorded
Sarre Mill is recorded as a wind-powered smock corn mill.
Site overview
Sarre Mill is a former smock corn mill at Sarre, on the Isle of Thanet. Windmill records identify it as a smock mill which was restored before later unauthorised residential conversion altered its preservation history. The mill stands within the lowland landscape of the Wantsum and Thanet, where wind-powered mills were a prominent part of rural corn milling.
The surviving building is not simply a lost site: it retains the form of a smock mill, but its later use has complicated its status as a restored heritage structure. The site is therefore a surviving and altered 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
Sarre Mill stands at Sarre in east Kent. It was a smock corn mill and forms part of the group of surviving Kent smock mills whose later history moved from commercial milling into preservation and reuse. The mill occupies a village landscape close to the former Wantsum Channel area, where exposed conditions made wind power useful for local corn milling.
Modern windmill records describe the site as restored, but later illegally part converted to residential use. The building therefore retains a recognisable smock-mill identity, while its post-working history includes both restoration and unauthorised adaptation. The surviving structure preserves the location and outward form of the former Sarre windmill, though it no longer operates as a working corn mill. Its recorded importance lies in the survival of the smock mill form and in the unusual modern sequence of repair, restoration, and contested conversion.
Timeline
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Mill restored
The former smock mill was restored after its working life.
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Residential conversion recorded
The restored mill was later partly converted to residential use without authorisation.
Sources and records
Windmill World site entry
Mills Archive site record
List of windmills in Kent
Kent windmill reference works
Mills Archive site record
List of windmills in Kent
Kent windmill reference works