Thurleigh Windmill

Site overview

Thurleigh Windmill is a Grade II listed tower mill at Mill Hill, Thurleigh. Historic England records it as a red brick tower mill, partly cement rendered, dating from about 1890. Bedfordshire Archives states that the surviving nineteenth-century mill post-dates the 1805 inclosure map and probably replaced an earlier mill that had blown down.

A windmill is recorded in Thurleigh as early as 1279, and later evidence records a post mill near Windmill Hill in 1808. The surviving tower had five storeys above the ground, two pairs of stones, and was latterly fitted with steam power to augment wind power. It last worked in 1917 and was disused by the 1927 rating valuation.

No cap or sails survive, but the windshaft, brake-wheel, some gears, and cradle remain. The mill now forms part of a house.

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

Thurleigh has documentary evidence for wind-powered milling long before the surviving tower mill was built. Bedfordshire Archives records a windmill in the parish by 1279, quoted by J. Steele Elliott from the Hundred Rolls. An Extent of the Exchequer in 1325 also noted a windmill, valued at twenty shillings per annum, and a Mill Field was recorded in 1708.

Elliott associated the medieval mill with a partly moated mound known as Windmill Hill, near Keysoe Road. In 1808 a post mill stood thirty yards nearer the road; Elliott described it as similar to the Riseley post mill, but carried on four leaning timber supports without a ground-floor room beneath. The surviving tower mill at Scald End is a later structure.

Bedfordshire Archives states that neither the mill nor its cottage is shown on the 1805 inclosure map, so the site must post-date that survey. Historic England records the listed building as Thurleigh Windmill, a circa 1890 red brick tower mill, partly cement rendered. Elliott thought it was built about 1890 to replace an earlier mill that had blown down.

The tower was about 60 feet high and had five floors above the ground, including the bin floor. Its base was 22 feet across, with walls two feet thick; the top of the tower was 14 feet across, with brickwork 18 inches thick. The mill worked two pairs of stones and was latterly fitted with steam power to augment the wind.

Recorded millers include John Ward around 1800, Thomas Jefferies in 1848, Mary Ann Jefferies in 1869, Benjamin Jefferies in 1877, and William Hebbes in directories of 1898, 1910, and 1914. Historic England records that the mill last worked in 1917. By the 1927 rating valuation it was owned and occupied by H. Walker and described as disused, with two pairs of stones.

No cap or sails now survive, but the windshaft, brake-wheel, some gears, and cradle remain. Planning permission was sought in 1989 to extend and alter the mill to form a dwelling. The remains now form part of a house and the mill is protected as a Grade II listed building.

Timeline

1279

Earlier Thurleigh windmill recorded

A windmill was recorded in Thurleigh by 1279.

1325

Windmill noted in Exchequer extent

An Extent of the Exchequer noted a windmill in Thurleigh valued at twenty shillings per annum.

1808

Post mill recorded near Windmill Hill

A post mill stood near Windmill Hill, thirty yards closer to the road than the earlier mound.

1890

Tower mill built

The surviving red brick tower mill was built about 1890, probably replacing an earlier mill that had blown down.

1917

Working use ended

The tower mill last worked in 1917.

1927

Mill recorded as disused

The rating valuation recorded the mill as disused, with two pairs of stones.

1952

Grade II listing

Thurleigh Windmill was listed at Grade II.

1989

Dwelling conversion works proposed

Planning permission was sought to extend and alter the mill to form a dwelling.

Thurleigh Windmill Thurleigh · Bedfordshire · England