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Twin scoop wheels used
The tower mill had two scoop wheels, one on each side of the tower.
Site overview
Hunsett Mill stands beside the River Ant at Stalham. It was built in 1860 by the millwright William Rust as a tower drainage mill. A datestone inscribed 1698 is set into the tower and probably relates to an earlier windpump on the same site.
The mill is unusual because it had two scoop wheels, one on each side of the tower, and both could be driven by auxiliary engine power. The site therefore represents a technically distinctive form of Broads drainage mill. The tower remains beside the river as part of the Hunsett landscape, although the exact sequence of later repairs, changes to wind gear, and final working date is not fully established from the identified sources.
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
Hunsett Mill was built in 1860 beside the River Ant at Stalham by the millwright William Rust. It was a tower drainage mill, built to raise water from the marsh drainage system rather than to grind corn. A datestone inscribed 1698 is set into the tower, and this is likely to relate to an earlier windpump on the same site rather than to the surviving nineteenth-century tower.
Hunsett is technically unusual because it had two scoop wheels, one on each side of the tower. Both scoop wheels were capable of being driven by an auxiliary engine, a feature also known at Irstead Turf Fen. The mill therefore combined wind-powered pumping with later mechanical assistance and stands out among Norfolk drainage mills for its twin-wheel arrangement.
The identified evidence confirms its 1860 construction, William Rust's role, its River Ant setting, and its unusual machinery arrangement. The final wind-powered working date and detailed later repair chronology remain unclear in the searched material.
Timeline
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Auxiliary engine drive available
Both scoop wheels were capable of being driven by an auxiliary engine.
1698
Earlier datestone retained
A datestone inscribed 1698 is set into the tower and probably relates to an earlier windpump on the same site.
1860
Hunsett Mill built
William Rust built Hunsett drainage mill beside the River Ant.
Sources and records
Norfolk Mills page: Stalham Hunsett drainage mill
List of drainage windmills in Norfolk
Hunsett Mill site information
List of drainage windmills in Norfolk
Hunsett Mill site information