Burnham Overy Staithe Windmill Burnham Overy · Norfolk · England

Burnham Overy Staithe Windmill was built in 1816 by Edmund Savory, who was already operating Burnham Overy Lower watermill. Norfolk Mills records that the tower windmill was worked in conjunction with the nearby watermill. The mill was six storeys high, with a twenty-four-foot diameter at ground-floor level and a stage around the first floor. Its horizontally boarded ogee cap had a ball finial and held a six-bladed fan. Four double-shuttered sails with an eighty-one-foot span, each with twelve bays of three shutters, drove three pairs of stones. An Edward Savory 1816 datestone was incorporated in the building.

Edmund Savory worked the mill until his death in 1827, after which it passed to his son John. The mill remained associated with the Savory family through the nineteenth century. In 1888 the wider premises were offered for sale, including the steam mill, watermill and windmill, together with maltings, granaries, farm buildings and over forty acres of land. The windmill drove three pairs of millstones. The lot was not sold at that auction, and John Savory junior continued until 1900. Sidney Dewing then owned the mill from 1900 to 1910, followed by Sidney Everett from 1910.

In 1914 the mill was tailwinded, and it was last worked in 1919. By the time Hugh Hughes, an architect from Grantchester, bought it in 1926, the machinery had been stripped out. Hughes converted the tower to holiday accommodation. Restoration work was carried out in 1957 by Thompson's, millwrights of Alford, Lincolnshire, when a new cap with gallery, stocks and sails was fitted and the stage was replaced. The mill was given to the National Trust in 1958.

Later National Trust management included proposals in 1978 to restore the mill to working order, but those plans were refused because of concerns about road access and visitor traffic. The mill was renovated internally to meet fire safety regulations in 1981. Stocks and sails were removed in 1983 for replacement, and new Jamaican pitch-pine stocks were fitted on 17 July 1985, followed by four new sails the next day. The mill is Grade II* listed and remains one of the best-known landmarks on the north Norfolk coast.