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Tower mill replaced by post mill
The brick tower mill was later replaced by another post mill on the same site.
Site overview
Great Yarmouth Cobholm tower mill stood in Southtown, west of Yarmouth Bridge and north of St Luke's church. It was built as a replacement for an earlier post mill on the same site and was later itself replaced by another post mill, an unusual sequence for a windmill site. The brick tower mill worked as a corn mill with three pairs of French burr stones and two flour mills.
In 1785 it was advertised as a capital brick tower windmill on the west side of Yarmouth Bridge, capable of manufacturing six or seven lasts of wheat per week. The available evidence confirms the mill's strong eighteenth-century operating record, machinery, and site sequence, but not a surviving complete tower.
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
Great Yarmouth Cobholm tower mill stood in Southtown on the west side of Yarmouth Bridge, north of St Luke's church. The site had already carried a post mill before the brick tower mill was built, and the tower mill was later replaced by another post mill. This sequence, from post mill to tower mill and then back to post mill, was unusual.
The tower mill worked as a corn mill. Its sails powered three pairs of French burr stones and two flour mills. The stones were recorded as one pair of five feet, one pair of four feet ten inches, and one pair of four feet.
In 1776 millstones, a bolting mill, and a neck brass were advertised from the Brick Mill near Yarmouth Bridge. In 1785 the mill was advertised as one of the most capital brick tower windmills in Norfolk and Suffolk, with going gears in good repair and capacity to manufacture six or seven lasts of wheat per week. A cottage for workmen stood near the mill.
The evidence establishes the mill's location, machinery, output capacity, and relationship to earlier and later mills on the same site.
Timeline
1776
Mill equipment advertised
Millstones, a bolting mill, and a neck brass were advertised from the Brick Mill near Yarmouth Bridge.
1785
Brick tower windmill advertised
The Cobholm tower mill was advertised as a capital brick tower windmill with three pairs of French stones, two flour mills, going gears, and capacity to manufacture six or seven lasts of wheat per week.
Sources and records
Norfolk Mills page: Great Yarmouth Cobholm tower windmill
WindmillWorld county list: Windmills of Norfolk
WindmillWorld county list: Windmills of Norfolk