St Martin's Mill Canterbury · Kent · England

St Martin's Mill was built in 1817 by John Adams as a tower corn mill at Canterbury. It was a four-storey brick tower mill, later rendered in cement, with a Kentish-style cap and four single patent sails carried on a cast-iron windshaft. The cap was winded by a six-bladed fantail and the mill had a stage at first-floor level. Internally it drove three pairs of stones and retained the principal arrangement of a tower mill, with the windshaft driving the brake wheel, wallower, upright shaft, and associated gearing.

The working history of the mill is recorded through a succession of nineteenth-century millers. Samuel Beard, Thomas Marsh, William Cannon, M Gooderson, J Durrant, Richardson, Bradley, Robinson, Bax, Coaks, Rackham, and Lawrence are associated with the mill during its active life. The mill remained in use until 1890, after which its original commercial function ended.

In 1920 the tower was converted into a house by Mr Couzens. The building later faced a proposal for demolition in April 1958, but a preservation order was placed on the windmill by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. The mill is now protected as a Grade II listed building. It retained its sails until the Great Storm of 1987, when they were lost and not replaced. Although the sails have gone, the converted tower survives with important internal machinery, including the cast-iron windshaft, brake wheel, wallower, and drive to the sack hoist. St Martin's Mill remains a visible survival of Canterbury's wind-powered corn-milling landscape.