Site overview
Sullington Warren Windmill, also known as White Mill, Warren Mill and Crowhurst's Mill, was a post corn mill on Sullington Warren in West Sussex. The mill was present by the early nineteenth century and is shown on the 1806 Ordnance Survey surveyor's drawing. It had four sweeps, two pairs of millstones and a substantial cast-iron windshaft.
The mill eventually fell out of use and was destroyed by fire in the early twentieth century. The windshaft survives on Sullington Warren, preserving a rare physical remnant of the former mill.
Map
History
Sullington Warren Windmill stood on Sullington Warren and is recorded under several names, including White Mill, Warren Mill and Crowhurst's Mill. The windmill was present by the early nineteenth century, appearing on the 1806 Ordnance Survey surveyor's drawing, though not on the 1795 Gardner and Gream map. It was built as a wind-powered corn mill and is recorded as a post mill.
The surviving descriptions identify a mill with four sweeps and two pairs of millstones. The cast-iron windshaft was a major element of the machinery, connecting the sweeps to the internal gearing that drove the stones. The site occupied the open Warren landscape, where the exposed position would have suited a windmill.
The mill later fell into disuse and was destroyed by fire in the early twentieth century. The windshaft remains on Sullington Warren close to the former mill site. This survival gives the site a clearer physical presence than many lost post-mill sites, even though the timber body, trestle, roundhouse or associated buildings no longer survive as a complete windmill. The site remains an important fragmentary survival of West Sussex wind-powered corn milling.
Timeline
Windshaft survives
Post mill established
Mill shown on surveyor's drawing
Mill destroyed by fire
Sources and records
Sandgate Conservation Society page: Sullington Warren historical features
Geograph photograph: White Mill Windshaft, Sullington Warren
Storrington local history material on Sullington Windmill
Windmill World entry: Sullington Warren windmill