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Machinery survival recorded
All machinery was recorded as surviving, including the cast-iron windshaft, crown wheel, pit wheel, and drive to two external scoop wheels.
Site overview
Turf Fen Windpump is a tower drainage mill at Barton Turf beside the River Ant. It was built around 1875 and worked as part of the Broads marsh-drainage system until the 1920s. The mill stands within the How Hill landscape, one of a group of drainage mills associated with the River Ant.
Its machinery survival is unusually strong, with the cast-iron windshaft, crown wheel, pit wheel, and the drive to two external scoop wheels recorded as surviving. The mill later became a preserved landmark under public care and remains one of the best-known surviving drainage mills of the Norfolk Broads. Its present value lies in both its landscape setting and the survival of internal pumping machinery.
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
Turf Fen Windpump stands on the River Ant at Barton Turf and forms part of the drainage-mill landscape associated with How Hill. It was built around 1875 as a tower drainage mill and remained in use until the 1920s. The mill was designed to drain marshland rather than grind corn.
Its machinery survival is particularly important. The surviving equipment includes a cast-iron windshaft, crown wheel, and pit wheel, with the pit wheel driving two external scoop wheels through gearing that allowed both high and low lifts. This two-scoop-wheel arrangement reflects the practical engineering demands of marsh drainage in the Broads.
The mill later passed into preservation and public-care contexts and became a well-known landmark for visitors to the River Ant and How Hill area. The identified sources confirm the approximate construction date, working period, river setting, and significant survival of machinery, while leaving the detailed ownership sequence and exact final working date less fully documented.
Timeline
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Preserved mill landmark
The windpump survives as a preserved drainage-mill landmark in the How Hill and River Ant landscape.
1875
Turf Fen Windpump built
The tower drainage mill was built around 1875 beside the River Ant.
1920–1929
Wind-powered drainage ended
The drainage mill remained in use until the 1920s.
Sources and records
Norfolk Mills page: Irstead Turf Fen drainage mill
Norfolk Heritage Explorer record: Turf Fen Drainage Mill
List of drainage windmills in Norfolk
Norfolk County Council mill-sites information
Norfolk Heritage Explorer record: Turf Fen Drainage Mill
List of drainage windmills in Norfolk
Norfolk County Council mill-sites information