1838
Post mill first mapped
Topcroft post mill was first recorded on the 1838 Ordnance Survey map.
Site overview
Topcroft post mill stood north of the village, east of Oxnead Lane. The mill buck was set on a two-storey roundhouse. Four double-shuttered sails powered two pairs of French burr stones and a flour mill, and the mill was turned to wind by a six-bladed fantail on a ladder.
It was advertised in 1864 as a post windmill with patent sails, self-winding gear, two floors in the roundhouse, two pairs of French stones, a flour machine, house, stable, and one acre of land. By 1922 it had ceased working, and the sails and fantail were removed in 1924. The post, trestle, and roundhouse walls survived into the later twentieth century, though increasingly overgrown.
Parts of the mill were later reused elsewhere, including the windshaft, which went to East Harling tower mill in 1975.
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
Topcroft post mill stood to the north of Topcroft village and to the east of Oxnead Lane. It was a post mill with its buck set on a two-storey roundhouse. Four double-shuttered sails drove two pairs of French burr stones and a flour mill, and the mill was turned into the wind by a six-bladed fantail carried on a ladder.
In 1864 it was advertised to let immediately as a post windmill with patent sails, self-winding gear, two floors in the roundhouse, two pairs of French stones, a flour machine, house, stable, and one acre of land. Later nineteenth-century notices show the mill continuing to be worked by millers at Topcroft. William Lant Duffield owned or hired the mill from 1909 to 1916, alongside other milling interests at Saxlingham Thorpe, Flordon, Tasburgh, and Saxlingham.
By 1922 the mill had ceased working, and in 1924 the sails and fantail were removed. Rex Wailes surveyed the derelict mill around 1950, recording its body, post, crosstrees, brakewheel, and unusual roller arrangements around the post. Philip Unwin surveyed it again in May 1974, recording the iron windshaft, brick piers, crosstrees, and post dimensions.
The post, trestle, and roundhouse walls were still intact in 1972, although becoming very overgrown. Various parts later went to other mills, including the windshaft, which went to East Harling tower mill in 1975. A later photographic record described the post and trestle visible beside Mill House, with sections of the roundhouse wall collapsed and the remains overgrown.
Timeline
1864
Mill advertised to let
The post mill was advertised with patent sails, self-winding gear, two floors in the roundhouse, two pairs of French stones, a flour machine, house, stable, and one acre of land.
1909–1916
William Lant Duffield associated with mill
William Lant Duffield owned or hired the Topcroft post mill during this period.
1922
Mill ceased working
By 1922 the post mill had ceased working.
1924
Sails and fantail removed
The sails and fantail were removed from the mill.
1972
Post and trestle survived
The post, trestle, and roundhouse walls were still intact, although becoming very overgrown.
1975
Windshaft reused at East Harling
The windshaft from Topcroft post mill went to East Harling tower mill.
Sources and records
Norfolk Mills page: Topcroft post windmill
Geograph photograph record: Mill House and derelict postmill, Topcroft
WindmillWorld county list: Windmills of Norfolk
Geograph photograph record: Mill House and derelict postmill, Topcroft
WindmillWorld county list: Windmills of Norfolk