Editing Saxtead Green Windmill

{{Short description|Windmill in Saxtead Green, Suffolk, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox Windmill
|name               = Saxtead Green Post Mill
|image              = Saxstead Green Postmill - geograph.org.uk - 2389895.jpg
|image_size         = 275px
|caption            = Saxtead Green Post Mill
|name_of_mill       = Saxtead Green Post Mill
|location_of_mill   =
|gbgridref          = TM 253 644
|coordinates        = {{coord|52.2318|1.2984|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
|operator           = [[English Heritage]]
|built              = Late 18th century
|purpose            = [[grist mill|Corn mill]]
|type               = [[Post mill]]
|storeys            = Three storey buck
|roundhouse_storeys = Three storey roundhouse
|sail_number        = Four sails
|sail_type          = [[windmill sail|Patent sails]]
|windshaft          = Cast iron
|winding            = [[windmill fantail|Fantail]]
|fantail_blades     = Six blades
|auxpower           =
|pairs_of_millstones= Two pairs
|stone_size         =
|other              =
}}

'''Saxtead Green Post Windmill''' is a [[Listed building|Grade II* listed]]<ref name=EH/> [[post mill]] at [[Saxtead]] Green, [[Woodbridge, Suffolk]], England which is also a [[Scheduled monument]]<ref name=Brown/> and has been restored.

==History==

According to the Manorial Records there has been a windmill in Saxtead since 1287. The current ''Saxtead Green Mill'' dates back to at least 1796 when the miller was Amos Webber.<ref name=Wailes>{{cite book |last=Wailes |first=Rex |author-link=Rex Wailes |title=Saxtead Green Post Mill |publisher=English Heritage |location=London |isbn=978 1 85074 220 3}}</ref>  In 1810, the Mill House was built for Robert Holmes. The mill was raised a total of three times during its working life.<ref name=Brown/> The mill was tailwinded c. 1853. Around this time, the sails were destroyed and remade but in 1854 Whitmore and Binyon, the [[Wickham Market]] [[millwright]]s fitted new [[cast iron]] machinery and windshaft, and the layout of the machinery changed from Head and Tail to Breast stones.<ref name=Flint/> It was in this year that the mill was raised for the third time. Collins, the [[Melton, Suffolk|Melton]] millwright worked on the mill in the 1870s and Whitmore and Binyon again worked on the mill in the 1890s. From 1926 millwright Jesse Wightman (who was initially apprenticed to A S Aldred the Miller) assisted the owner with repairs until the mill ceased working commercially on the death of the last miller in 1947.<ref name=Brown>{{cite book | first =R J | last = Brown| year = 1976| title = Windmills of England | pages= 182| publisher = Robert Hale Ltd| location = London | isbn = 0-7091-5641-3}}</ref>

The mill passed to Mr Steven Charles Sullivan,(1908–1997) the son-in-law of A S Aldred, who placed the mill in the guardianship of the [[Ministry of Works (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Works]] in 1951.  The mill is currently owned by Stephen and Jonathan Sullivan (ensuring the Mill has been in the ownership of the same family since 1873) The mill was completely rebuilt between 1957 and 1960 under the supervision of Jesse Wightman. A replacement crowntree was obtained from a windmill at [[Wetheringsett]] which had been demolished.<ref name=Brown/> The mill has been in the care of [[English Heritage]] since 1984 <ref name=EH>{{NHLE |num=1200182 |desc=Saxtead Green Post Mill |access-date=2015-01-18}}</ref>

The mill was repaired, with a new pair of sails made in 2008.

In 2017 the mill was closed by English Heritage who undertook a 250k restoration project of the mill.  Local Millwright Tim Whiting was appointed to complete the works which involved building a new set of sails and replacing the fantail.  The mill was due to reopen in April 2020 but due to the Coronavirus pandemic was delayed until 2021.

==Description==
{{For|an explanation of the various pieces of machinery|Mill machinery}}
''Saxtead Green Mill'' is a post mill with a three-storey roundhouse. The mill has four [[windmill sail|Patent sails]] carried on a cast-iron windshaft and is winded by a [[windmill fantail|fantail]]. The mill has two pairs of [[millstones]] in the breast. All the machinery is of cast iron except the Brake Wheel, which is of [[oak]].<ref name=Flint>{{cite book | first =Brian | last = Flint| year = 1997| title = Suffolk Windmills| pages= 10, 19, 28, 66, 75, 108–109 | publisher = The Boydell Press| location = Woodbridge | isbn = 0-85115-112-4}}</ref>

==Millers==

*Amos Webber 1796
*Robert Holmes 1810
*George Holmes
*George William Holmes
*Mr Meadows
*Mr Steggles
*Mr Rouse
*Frederick Eldred
*Alfred Aldred
*Alfred Stephenson Robert Aldred - 1947
Reference for the above -<ref name=Wailes/>

==Public access==

The mill is open to the public on Friday, Saturday and Bank Holidays between 1 April and 30 September each year.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Saxtead Green Windmill}}
* [https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/saxtead-green-post-mill/ Saxtead Green Post Mill] - official site at English Heritage
* [http://www.windmillworld.com/millid/1060.htm Windmill World] webpage on Saxted Green Mill.

{{Windmills and Windpumps of East Anglia}}

[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 18th century]]
[[Category:Windmills in Suffolk]]
[[Category:English Heritage sites in Suffolk]]
[[Category:Post mills in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed buildings in Suffolk]]
[[Category:Scheduled monuments in Suffolk]]
[[Category:Grinding mills in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Suffolk Coastal]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed windmills]]
[[Category:Museums in Suffolk]]
[[Category:Mill museums in England]]
[[Category:18th-century architecture in the United Kingdom]]