1291
Irby windmill first documented
The Taxation of Pope Nicholas IV records a windmill at Irby among the possessions of St Werburgh's Abbey.
Site overview
The coordinates identify the Irby Mill Hill site, close to the Greasby and Irby boundary. Excavation evidence and local accounts record more than one windmill location here. The earliest known reference to a mill at Irby occurs around 1291, when the windmill formed part of the possessions of St Werburgh's Abbey, Chester.
A 1431 to 1432 rental required tenants of Irby, Greasby, Woodchurch and Noctorum, with those of Frankby, to grind at Irby Mill and pay a toll. The later post mill stood by the present mill cottage on Hillbark Road, in Greasby township. The mill was disused by the late nineteenth century and was demolished in 1898.
In 1979 the site was excavated before development connected with conversion of the mill cottage into a public house. The Irby Mill pub opened in 1980 on the former mill site.
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
Irby Mill is documented as a long-lived windmill site rather than a surviving historic tower. The 1979 excavation report states that the windmill occupied two sites at different periods. The earlier site lay to the south, within Irby township, while the later excavated site lay in Greasby township along Hillbark Road, both within Thurstaston parish.
The first known documentary reference appears in the Taxation of Pope Nicholas IV, around 1291, recording a windmill at Irby among the possessions of the Abbey of St Werburgh in Chester. A rental of 1431 to 1432 required tenants of Irby, Greasby, Woodchurch and Noctorum, together with tenants of the monks of Frankby, to grind at Irby Mill to the sixteenth measure, meaning that one-sixteenth of the flour was paid as toll. In 1538 Abbot Thomas Clarke granted a long lease that included one windmill called Ireby Mylne, with provisions for repair of millstones, timberwork, ironwork, cogs, rungs and sailcloth.
The final post mill later stood beside the mill cottage. Local accounts state that it had fallen out of use by about 1878 and was demolished in 1898. In 1979, before development of the cottage as a public house, the site was excavated by the Wirral Field Work Group.
The mill cottage survived and the Irby Mill public house opened in 1980, preserving the site name while the windmill itself no longer survives.
Timeline
1431–1432
Tenants required to grind at Irby Mill
A St Werburgh's rental required tenants from nearby townships to grind at Irby Mill and pay a toll in flour.
1538
Ireby Mylne included in lease
Abbot Thomas Clarke granted a lease including one windmill called Ireby Mylne, with repair obligations for mill machinery and sailcloth.
1898
Irby post mill demolished
The later Irby post mill was demolished in 1898 after a period of disuse.
1979
Mill site excavated before pub conversion
The mill site was excavated during three weeks at the end of July 1979 before development of the cottage site.
1980
Irby Mill pub opened
The surviving mill cottage was brought into use as the Irby Mill public house.
Sources and records
Merseyside Archaeological Society paper: Irby Mill Excavations 1979
Irby Mill public house history page
Greasby local history page: Irby Mill, Cottage and Pub
Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire paper: Irby Windmill
Irby Mill public house history page
Greasby local history page: Irby Mill, Cottage and Pub
Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire paper: Irby Windmill