Site overview

Champion's Mill, now known as The Old Mill, was a smock windmill at Wisborough Green in West Sussex. It was built about 1820 as a wind-powered corn mill on a stone base. The mill worked until 1910, when wind damage led to the loss of the upper part.

The remaining structure was converted into a house after 1960. The survival consists of the original octagonal two-storey stone base with red brick dressings and the lower part of the smock, now weatherboarded and adapted for domestic use.

Map

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

History

Champion's Mill was built at Wisborough Green in about 1820 as a smock windmill on a stone base. It was a wind-powered corn mill with a white tapering weatherboarded smock, a cap carrying the sails and sweeps with a diameter of around 70 feet. The mill continued working until 1910.

In that year wind damage affected the cap and sails, and the upper portion was later demolished. The remaining lower structure became a derelict mill base before its later reuse. After 1960 the surviving fabric was converted into a house.

The present building, known as The Old Mill, retains the original octagonal base of two storeys, built of Wealden sandstone with red brick dressings, together with the lower part of the smock forming an additional weatherboarded storey. A modern projecting cornice finishes the altered structure.

Timeline

1820

Smock mill built

Champion's Mill was built about 1820 as a smock windmill on a stone base.
1910

Working life ended

The mill worked until 1910, when wind damage led to the loss of the upper portion.
1960

Converted to a house

The derelict remainder was converted into a house after 1960.
1977

Grade II listing

The Old Mill at Wisborough Green was listed at Grade II.

Sources and records

Historic England National Heritage List entry: The Old Mill, Wisborough Green
Wisborough Green Parish Council windmills history
Sussex Mills Group windmill gazetteer
Mills Archive catalogue entry
Historic England Archive feature on Emilie Montgomery Gardner
List of windmills in West Sussex