Site overview

Goram's Mill is an eight-sided smock mill at Laxfield. It was built in 1842 by John Whitmore for Robert Newson and was later associated with Ephraim Cullingford and William Goram. The mill had an ogee cap, patent shuttered sails, a cast-iron windshaft, fantail, and three pairs of millstones.

The sails, windshaft, and fanstage had been removed by 1935, after which the mill continued by engine. It was truncated in the 1940s and survives as a one-storey lower smock on its brick base.

Map

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No site photograph is currently available. Images will be added as field visits are carried out.

History

Goram's Mill was built at Laxfield in 1842 by John Whitmore for Robert Newson. It was an eight-sided smock mill with an ogee-shaped cap, four double-sided patent shuttered sails spanning about 50 feet, a cast-iron windshaft, a cast-iron brake wheel, and a six-bladed fantail. The mill worked three pairs of millstones overdriven by a spur wheel, with auxiliary machinery likely including bolting or flour-refining equipment.

Ephraim Cullingford ran the mill in 1868, and the mill was damaged by a gale in 1879. From 1883 it was run by William Goram and remained in the Goram family for the rest of its working life. By 1935 the sails, windshaft, and fanstage had been removed, and the mill continued by engine through a belt drive on the outside of the smock.

Around the time of the Second World War, the cap and upper floors were removed, leaving the brick base and ground floor of the smock under a conical sheet-metal roof. A living roof was installed in the 2000s. The surviving structure retains original timber smock framing, plaster panels, metal-sheet cladding, bearing cut-outs, ironwork, tie bars, bridge-tree hangers, and flour-chute openings.

Timeline

1842

Goram's Mill built

Goram's Mill was built by John Whitmore for Robert Newson in 1842.
1868

Run by Ephraim Cullingford

Ephraim Cullingford ran the mill in 1868.
1879

Mill damaged by gale

The mill was damaged by a gale in 1879.
1883

William Goram took over

William Goram ran the mill from 1883, after which it remained in the Goram family for the rest of its working life.
1935

Engine working continued

By 1935 the sails, windshaft, and fanstage had been removed, and the mill continued by engine.
1940–1949

Mill truncated

The cap and upper floors were removed in the 1940s, leaving the brick base and ground floor of the smock.
2000–2009

Living roof installed

A new living roof was installed in the 2000s.

Sources and records

Goram's Mill, Laxfield conservation report, December 2024
Mills Archive catalogue entry: Goram's Mill, Laxfield
Windmill World entry: Laxfield windmill
Laxfield Conservation Area Appraisal
Suffolk Mills Group windmill gazetteer