In
1536, Cotingeham
was recorded as having three mills - one horse drawn, one
watermill and one windmill. In
medieval times, all three mills would have come under the monopoly of the
lord of the manor. and the villagers would
have been liable to heavy fines if they took their corn elsewhere to be
ground.
Windmills started to appear in Britain in the 12th
Century. In the 16th Century, they were made of wood. The body of the mill was
balanced on a central upright post, allowing it to rotate to face the wind
direction, hence the name for this type of construction - a post mill.
Windmill
Close
The mill recorded in 1536 could have been located on the same site as the
surviving windmill, as there is evidence of a mill mound, which was normally only constructed to raise the height of early post mills.
In
1720, the mill was owned by John Aldwinckle (recorded on the 1720
enclosure awards map), and the Aldwinckle family remained active as
millers for most of the 19th century, at least in Middleton. A Mary
Aldwinckle was recorded as a baker/breadmaker in the 1901 census for
the village.
It
is believed that the surviving 'tower mill' structure dates from the late 18th
century. It originally had four storeys, and the sails survived up until
the late 19th century, when they were possibly lost in a storm.
In
1934 the mill was sold at auction for £5. The millstones were removed prior to
1955, when Charlie Lawson (who ran a radio repairers) bought the tower for £25, and reduced its height to
three floors. After making it waterproof, it was used mainly for storage of radios.
In 1887, as you can see from the OS map opposite, the mill stood
alone on land to the left of Corby Road, heading out of the village. The
new estate has since built up around the mill
which now stands in Windmill
Close, just off Bancroft Road. The
present owners, Ray Clarke and family, started work on the ruined
windmill in 1986. The conversion was completed in 1996.
With
thanks to Ray Clarke, and Mark at www.windmillworld.com
for the above information and photographs.
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