1700–1730
Drainage smock mill built
The mill originated as an early eighteenth-century smock windmill used for drainage.
Site overview
Northfield Windmill, also known as Shade Mill, is a Grade II* listed smock windmill at The Shades, Soham. It began as an early eighteenth-century drainage mill, was moved to its present site in the nineteenth century, raised on a brick plinth, and converted for corn milling. The timber-framed, weatherboarded mill has an ogee cap with ball finial, original sails and fantail, and much of its machinery intact.
Surviving internal features include the windshaft, wallower, main shaft, great spur wheel, and two grinding stones. The mill remains one of the important surviving windmills of Soham.
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
Northfield Windmill stands at The Shades in Soham and is also known as Shade Mill. It originated as an early eighteenth-century smock windmill used for drainage in the neighbouring fen. During the nineteenth century it was moved to its present site, raised on a brick plinth, and converted to work as a corn mill.
The surviving structure is timber framed and weatherboarded, with an ogee-shaped wooden cap and ball finial. It retains original sails and fantail, giving the building an unusually complete external windmill form. Internally, much of the machinery remains, including the windshaft, wallower, main shaft, and great spur wheel. The great spur wheel drives two grinding stones on the stone floor, preserving the link between the earlier drainage mill and its later corn-milling phase.
The mill is protected as a Grade II* listed building. Condition surveys in the early twenty-first century recorded structural and cap problems, including a deformed and leaking cap that would not turn to wind. Temporary repairs were made in 2009, and later reports assessed its millwrighting history and significance. Northfield Windmill remains a rare survival of a Cambridgeshire smock mill with original wind and milling machinery.
Timeline
1830–1839
Mill moved and converted
The drainage mill was moved to its present site in the nineteenth century, raised on a brick plinth, and converted for corn milling.
1950–1951
Mill recorded working
Northfield Windmill was recorded as working in mid twentieth-century mill surveys.
1984
Grade II* listed building designation
The listing was amended to Grade II* for Northfield Windmill.
2009
Temporary repairs completed
Temporary repairs were completed to address leaks in the mill.
2009
Heritage at Risk recorded
The mill was included on the Heritage at Risk Register during the early twenty-first century.
Sources and records
Historic England listed building entry
Cambridgeshire Watermills and Windmills at Risk report
Mills Archive report: Soham Northfield Windmill
Windmill World site entry
Northfield Windmill website
Cambridgeshire Watermills and Windmills at Risk report
Mills Archive report: Soham Northfield Windmill
Windmill World site entry
Northfield Windmill website