1770
Mill in operation
Wrea Green Mill was known to be operating as a windmill by 1770.
Site overview
Wrea Green Mill is a surviving tower windmill in the village of Wrea Green on the Fylde. It is identified in specialist windmill records as a tower corn mill and now survives in converted domestic use. The mill forms part of the wider Fylde windmill landscape, where tower mills were a distinctive feature of the flat, exposed coastal plain.
The surviving tower has been restored as a private house and retains its recognisable windmill form. In the 1980s the building was given a new Fylde-style cap, fantail, and catwalk, restoring much of the external silhouette of a working mill even though the site no longer functions as a corn mill. It remains a visible reminder of the village's wind-powered milling history.
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
Wrea Green Mill is a tower windmill in the village of Wrea Green. Specialist windmill records identify it as a tower corn mill, and local accounts place it within the Fylde landscape of wind-powered grain milling. The mill was operating by 1770, making it part of the eighteenth-century windmill pattern that gave the Fylde its strong association with windmills.
The mill later passed out of its original working role and was adapted for domestic use. Its survival is important because the Fylde once contained many windmills, but only a limited number of recognisable structures remain. Wrea Green Mill retains the principal mass of the tower and stands as a converted windmill rather than a working mill.
A major phase of restoration took place in the early 1980s. In 1982 the windmill was restored and converted into a private house. In 1985 it was fitted with a new Fylde-style cap, fantail, and catwalk, strengthening its external windmill character. The mill now survives as a house-converted tower mill, preserving the broad form and landmark presence of the former corn mill within Wrea Green.
Timeline
1982
Converted to private house
The former tower mill was restored and converted into a private house.
1985
Cap and fantail fitted
The converted tower mill was fitted with a new Fylde-style cap, fantail, and catwalk.
Sources and records
Windmill World site entry
Fylde Coast Windmills article
Lancashire windmill list
Fylde Coast Windmills article
Lancashire windmill list