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

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

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

Corn-milling machinery recorded

The mill had four sweeps, a cast-iron windshaft and two pairs of millstones.

Windshaft survives

The cast-iron windshaft survives on Sullington Warren close to the former mill site.
1800–1806

Post mill established

The windmill was present by the 1806 Ordnance Survey surveyor's drawing and was probably built around the turn of the nineteenth century.
1806

Mill shown on surveyor's drawing

The windmill was shown on the 1806 Ordnance Survey surveyor's drawing.
1911

Mill destroyed by fire

The windmill was destroyed by fire during a fire on Sullington Warren.

Sources and records

Archaeology Data Service record: Sullington Warren windmill site
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