Upminster Windmill

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox Windmill Upminster Windmill is a Grade II* listed[1] smock mill located in Upminster in the London Borough of Havering, England. It was formerly known as Abraham's Mill and was in Essex when built. Between 2016 and 2023 the mill was restored to working order and a visitor centre was constructed. The mill and visitor centre are open to the public at selected times.

History

Although there had been a windmill in Upminster since at least 1768,[2] this mill was built for James Nokes of Hunt's Farm in Corbets Tey Road in 1803 on land transferred from Bridge House Farm which was owned by his brother William. It had four Common sails and drove three pairs of millstones. A steam engine was added early in 1811 driving two pairs of millstones, an action which increased the rateable value of the mill from £30 to £77.[3] A fourth pair of millstones was added to the mill. James Nokes died in 1838 and the mill passed to his son Thomas. A fifth pair of millstones had been added by 1849 when Thomas Nokes was bankrupt. By 1856 the mill was driving six pairs of millstones by wind and steam. Thomas Abraham purchased the mill in 1857, having previously been in the employ of Nokes at both West Thurrock windmill and Upminster. He had also been in business at a steam mill in Navestock for the previous two years.[4] In 1876, the upright shaft was broken in an accident at the mill. It was repaired with a cast-iron coupling.[5]

Thomas Abraham died in 1882 and the mill passed to John Arkell Abraham. In 1889 the mill was struck by lightning and on 5 January 1900 the windshaft snapped at the neck and the sails crashed to the ground. A windshaft from a post mill near Maldon was fitted along with four new sails. After the death of John Arkell Abraham, the mill passed to his nephews Thomas, Alfred and Clement. In 1927 a stock was replaced and the fantail repaired. The mill last worked commercially in 1934 and was purchased for £3,400 by W H Simmonds. The steam-driven machinery was sold and the associated outbuildings decayed and were eventually demolished.[4] The mill was subsequently purchased by Essex County Council in the late 1930s,[2] and was listed in 1955[1]

On 22 June 2004, the Upminster Windmill Preservation Trust were granted a 35-year lease on the mill.[6] On 18 January 2007, the windmill suffered damage in extremely high winds. The stock sustained damage as did the sail, but there was little other damage to the mill.[7] Two new sails were fitted by Vincent Pargeter in August 2008.[8]

Description

The mill has a four-storey smock on a single-storey brick base. There is a stage at first-floor level. It has a boat-shaped cap with a gallery, winded by a six-bladed fantail. Four Patent sails are carried on a cast-iron windshaft. The mill drives four pairs of millstones by wind. The mill is Script error: No such module "convert". in height to the top of the cap.[5]

Base

The brick base is Script error: No such module "convert". across the flats and Script error: No such module "convert". high. The brickwork is Script error: No such module "convert". thick at ground level, diminishing to Script error: No such module "convert". at the top.[5]

Smock

The four-storey smock has cant posts of Script error: No such module "convert". by Script error: No such module "convert". section, Script error: No such module "convert". long. the sills are Script error: No such module "convert". by Script error: No such module "convert". in section, Script error: No such module "convert". long. The spout floor is Script error: No such module "convert". across the flats, the stone floor is Script error: No such module "convert". across the flats and the top of the smock tower is Script error: No such module "convert". diameter at the curb. The main floor beams are Script error: No such module "convert". square at all levels except the dust floor. The main transoms are Script error: No such module "convert". by Script error: No such module "convert". in section at all levels.[5]

Cap and fantail

File:Upminster wind002.jpg
The cap, fantail and sails in June 2006.

The boat-shaped cap is Script error: No such module "convert". by Script error: No such module "convert". in plan and Script error: No such module "convert". high. The main sheer beams are Script error: No such module "convert". square, on Script error: No such module "convert". centres, with the weatherbeam of Script error: No such module "convert". by Script error: No such module "convert". section at the centre and Script error: No such module "convert". square at the ends. The cap is thought to be the work of the millwright William Bear of Ballingdon[5] and is unusual in having an external gallery.[2] The fantail consists of six wooden vanes set at right-angles to the sails, and has the year 1799 carved on the horizontal wooden beam beneath it.[3]

Sails and windshaft

File:Upminster brake wheel.JPG
The Brake Wheel and wallower

The octagonal cast-iron windshaft has two square sections to take a head wheel and tail wheel as was its intended purpose in a post mill, and was moved to Upminster from a post mill near Maldon in 1899 to replace one broken during a storm.[3] It carries a Script error: No such module "convert". composite brake wheel with eight cast-iron arms and six wooden cants. The brake wheel has 78 cogs. The neck bearing of the windshaft is a roller bearing, fitted after the mill ceased working commercially.[5]

Originally Upminster windmill had canvas sails, but the sails on the mill when it ceased working commercially were four double patent sails.[3] They were carried on two stocks Script error: No such module "convert". long, Script error: No such module "convert". square at the centre, tapering to Script error: No such module "convert". by Script error: No such module "convert". at the ends. The sails were Script error: No such module "convert". in span, and tapered from Script error: No such module "convert". wide at the heel to Script error: No such module "convert". at the tip. Each sail had twelve bays with three shutters per bay, giving a total of 288 shutters, each carved with a number in Roman numerals to indicate its location. The weather on the sails was 23° at the heel and almost 0° at the tip.[5]

Machinery

File:Upminster mill UJ.JPG
The universal joint in the upright shaft
File:Upinster Mill great spur wheel.JPG
The compass arm great spur wheel

The upright shaft is wooden, in two sections for reasons noted above. It is twelve sided, Script error: No such module "convert". across the flats and Script error: No such module "convert". long in total. The wallower is of compass arm construction, Script error: No such module "convert". in diameter with 43 cogs. At the bottom of the upright shaft, the Script error: No such module "convert". compass arm great spur wheel has 126 cogs. It drives four pairs of underdrift millstones via stone nuts with 24 cogs.[5]

The millstones are three pairs of French Burr stones and one pair of Peak stones. Two pairs of the French Burr stones are Script error: No such module "convert". in diameter, and the other two pairs of millstones are Script error: No such module "convert". in diameter.[5]

Steam engine

The steam engine was located in a brick building built against the north-east side of the windmill, and drove two pairs of millstones, a centrifugal governor, and a sack hoist. The steam-driven millstones were located on two levels and driven by a Script error: No such module "convert". shaft of Script error: No such module "convert". length, those on the upper floor being driven by a cast-iron bevel wheel with wooden cog inserts. It was also able to work various dressing machines in the windmill, but not the wind-driven stones. There is some difference over the exact type of engine, it being variously described as a grasshopper engine built by Napiers,[5] and a Cornish boiler by Davey Paxman & Co.[3] Both sources agree that the engine had formerly been used in a Thames steamboat. The steam engine itself was removed in 1940 and taken to South West Essex Technical College in Walthamstow, while the building and remaining contents were removed in 1960, with two of the millstones remaining at the windmill entrance.[3]

Millers

  • James Nokes 1803–1838
  • Thomas Nokes 1838–1849
  • Thomas Abraham 1857–1882
  • John Arkell Abraham 1882–1912
  • Thomas, Alfred and Clement Abraham 1912–1934

References for above:-[3][4]

Location

The mill is located in a small open space maintained by Havering Council, known as Windmill Field[9] on St Mary's Lane. The nearest tube stations are Upminster Bridge tube station and Upminster station. Views from the top of the windmill include Canary Wharf and the transmitter at Crystal Palace.[10]

References

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  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Upminster Windmill Information leaflet

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External links

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