One of London’s last surviving windmills will reopen to the public this weekend following several years of restoration work.
(c) Upminster Windmill
The Upminster Windmill was built in 1803 and remained in use as a family-owned business grinding corn until 1934. In 1960 Essex County Council demolished the outbuildings though in the following years repairs were undertaken enabling the Mill to be opened to the public, staffed by volunteers, in 1967.
The mill is now just one of only six with sails surviving in Greater London, and is one of the most complete examples of a smock mill remaining in the country. The name refers to the sloping sides of the structure that give the building the appearance of a countryman’s smock.
However, although open to the public, it was on English Heritage’s At Risk register, but National Lottery funding has allowed for a restoration back to full working order to be carried out.
The occasional tours inside stopped in 2016, but this coming weekend will be the reopening after its lengthy restoration, and it will then be open one weekend a month until October.
Entry into the windmill for the tours needs to be booked in advance and costs £6 for adults and £2 for children.
Not on sale yet:
- Sat, Sep 23
- Sun, Sep 24
- Sat, Oct 28
- Sun, Oct 29
The other five windmills with sails in Greater London are Barnet Gate Mill in Barnet and Keston Windmill in Bromley; and three publicly accessible mills that have been restored with HLF funding: Shirley Windmill, Croydon; Wimbledon Common Windmill in Merton; and Ashby’s Mill in Lambeth.
Leave a Reply