Bradwell Windmill

New Bradwell Windmill was erected circa.1805 by Mr Samuel Holman after purchasing an acre of land from Henry Wilmin in 1803. Valuation at the time suggests the cost at approximately £500. With the opening of the Grand Junction Canal linking London to the Midlands he saw the possibilities of serving a wider market than just the locals.

Bradwell Windmill

Bradwell Windmill (Past)

Samuel worked the mill until his death in 1825 whereupon it was inherited by his wife and son. By 1846, the mill was owned by Elizabeth Curtis and during this time operated by William Carr of Carr’s Mill, Haversham.

In 1857 the mill was purchased by Robert Adams of Bradwell Abbey for his ward, John Abbott with the intention of setting him up in business but Abbott showed no interest. Robert Adams junior was persuaded to take the mill on and combined farming and milling to build up a profitable trade, running the business until 1871.

Robert Adams junior and family

The mill has a stone tower, built from stone quarried locally, the footings of which were reinforced by a mound which acted as an elevated walkway to allow the miller to attend to the sails. Originally the mill had two types of sails, one pair of 52 ft. common sails and one pair of 52ft. spring sails. The renovated mill has four spring sails. Inside, the mill has three floors above ground level, the stone floor, the bin floor and the dust floor. The stone floor has two sets of millstones, one pair made from Derbyshire peak or grey stone were used to grind animal feed. The other pair are French burrs, a composite stone of very hard quartzite from the Paris region, for grinding finer flour for human consumption.

An unusual feature of New Bradwell Mill is the fireplace. Only one other mill in Britain is known to have taken this risk as flour dust is very explosive.

The mill finally ceased working in 1876 when the Railway Company bought adjacent land for the development of the Wolverton to Newport Pagnell line.

Bradwell Windmill (Present)

Bradwell Windmill (Present)

Bradwell Windmill is now a Grade II listed building.

 

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