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Residents of the Whitstable area, and no doubt most historians, would be surprised to learn that evidence shows Whitstable had 11 windmills, perhaps more over the years. However readers should not expect that they were all of the popular concept illustrated by the best known example - the still standing Borstal Hill windmill shown above.

Number 1 ‘The Black Mill’ the easiest to identify sat high on, but not on top of, Borstal Hill, East of Canterbury road, 175 feet (~54metres) above the town. The foregoing Illustration 1 shows the windmill from the lower reaches of Borstal Hill. The following Illustration 2 is a view, presumably from the windmill, across the western part of the town.

Illustration 2: The location of windmill number 2 is indicated from this
circa 1930s ‘View from a windmill’.

Borstal Hill windmill replaced an earlier windmill (Number 2) lower down Borstal Hill, the perceived site of which is indicated in Illustration 2 by the white arrow.

Number 3, Martindown windmill, once existed on top of Borstal Hill to the West of Canterbury road. Similar to the ‘The Black Mill’ in general appearance it was located alongside Martindown Farm.

Windmill Number 4, popularly known as Feakins Mill, could be found between Belmont road and the railway roughly opposite the old Gasworks (site). Again similar to ‘The Black Mill’ in type, Feakins replaced an earlier windmill (Number 5) on the same site.

Overlooking the Feakins mill site from its perch part way up Millstrood Hill was Number 6, on the western side of Millstrood Hill road, at what I knew as ‘Browning’s Farm’, but some knew as ‘Millstrood Hill Farm’. (Not to be confused with Millstrood Farm on top of the hill.) 1700s maps show this windmill as ‘Whitstable Mill’.

Most present day Natives would be surprised to find Number 7, shown on an old 1819 map, in the Church Street - Ham shades Lane corner. Referred to in some old scripts as ‘Whitstable windmill’.

Long Beach, or more precisely the Harbour East Quay site, was evidently home to a different type of windmill (Number 8) most likely used for raising water to maintain salt pans.

An old small scale map shows a windmill near Ellenden Farm (Number 9). This was almost certainly for raising water into the water meadows developed around the 1600s following tree clearing.

The location of Number 10 is simply known as being ‘at Seasalter’. Old texts include vague references linking a windmill with 3 possible sites, near ‘The Sportsman’ pub, near Blue Anchor Corner and about the southern edge of the marshes. Perhaps there was a windmill at each site.

Finally, or at least at this time in the 21st century, the last windmill Number 11, a corn mill indicated as located at St. Anne’s Farm (Tankerton).

There were four different types of wind driven mill around the Whitstable area:

Smock Mill

Post Mill

Water Scoop

Pump Mill

The best known type of windmill would be the smock mill, the ‘Black Mill’ of Borstal Hill being a typical example.

This type could be found in a 3, 4, 5 or even 9 storey configuration. 3, 4 and 5 storey versions were known around Whitstable.

Popularly known for grinding grain, wheat in particular, the same structure is found for raising water. Windmills of Holland and England’s Fen country are well known in the latter role.

The same basic configuration in stone or brick is usually known as a ‘tower’ mill’, the style predating wooden smock mills.

The Borstal Hill windmill is a fine example of a smock mill, being a five storey structure. The smock mill example shown, right, is of three storeys.

There is often confusion about what constitutes a ‘storey’. Windmills built into a hillside, as the Borstal Hill windmill is, may have a semi basement which would not normally be counted as a storey.

Illustration 4: Typical Smock Mill

Illustration 5: Post Windmill

The second best known type would be the Post mill, a typical Kent example is illustrated left.

Post mills were the earliest known windmills in England, a brass of 1349 containing the earliest surviving illustration of an English windmill.

The Kent post mill illustrated above is little different to that shown in the brass. 12th century Crusaders are credited with introducing the windmill into England. (In 1287 a great storm destroyed 400 windmills across England).

Illustration 5A:
An early 1500s illustration of an English corn post windmill

Early post mills were considerably smaller than smock mills, about 15’ to 18’ (around 5 metres) overall height being typical.

The ‘workings’ of early post mills were built off the ground, their supporting trestles open to the elements. In some cases the supporting trestles were enclosed, probably to provide some protected storage. The complete ‘body’ or hull of the post mill is turned about the timber framed base to point the sails into or at any desired angle to the wind. The basic grain milling mechanism is shown at the end of this article.

With but one ‘room’ housing the driving and grinding machinery, again, like the smock mill used for grinding grain, principally wheat for flour although other grains would be milled for stock feed.

Illustration 6: The Water Scoop

The third type of Whitstable windmill had an entirely different use – raising water. Within the Whitstable area the water would have been salt for the salt works or fresh for flooding water meadows especially along the western end of the Bogshole Valley.

The earliest water-raising mills operated scoop wheels popularly used by the Dutch. (Illustration 6 left)

Wooden scoop wheels were placed in narrow timber or brick channels. As the wheel turned it either lifted water to a higher channel, or across a dam wall into a separate reservoir or simply pushed water along to flood meadows.

Not all distributed water as shown in Illustration 6. Some ‘scoop’ wheels were designed to eject the water to the side, to the left of the wheel as shown.

The example shown does not include a rotatable head. Presumably it was built facing the predominantly prevailing wind or may have originally been animal driven.

Gears shown were timber pegs in a timber disc. Pinions were timber rods between two timber discs.

A later type to the Scoop mill – the wind pump (illustrated right) – used a simple lift pump to typically raise water from a well, bore or nearby stream.

Illustrated is the most basic form of wind pump with canvas sails, although in this example on a supporting frame structure, mounted on a simple open framed tripod stayed by a second tripod.

Part way up the tripod frame is a platform to stand on when adjusting or perhaps repairing the crude fabric sails.

The head supporting the sails, shaft and wind vane (behind the right hand sail) pivots on top of the tripod frame and was held in position to the wind by a simple rope tether from the vane to the frame or ground as shown.

The earliest pump mechanisms were crude and simple with wooden shafts and wooden pump cylinder.

Illustration 7: The Wind Pump

I have yet to find any illustrations or descriptions of Whitstable’s post or water raising windmills. (Illustration 4 has been extracted from a family photograph taken near Canterbury. Illustration 5 has been developed from a post mill I saw south of Canterbury during 1996. Illustrations 6 & 7 have been developed from several prints, sketches and drawings viewed over past years.

This is the best known and sole remaining of all Whitstable’s windmills. The subject of our opening illustration, the Borstal Hill windmill is located on the East side of Borstal Hill being used in its heyday for ‘grinding’ wheat into flour or grains in general for meal.

Built in 1792, this 5 storey smock mill replaced an earlier mill further down Borstal Hill. The sole survivor into the 21st century, Borstal Hill windmill is the only Whitstable windmill with a modern history extending into living memory.

Contrary to the popular impression, the windmill stood alone, independent of the miller’s house until the mid 1920s long after milling ceased. Illustration 8 below was re drawn from one of the earliest photographs of the old mill, possibly taken as early as 1850, and showing both the mill and mill house from the general direction of Borstal Hill. For clarity, the otherwise then white windmill is illustrated in a somewhat darker coat.

Dimensionally the octagonal base of Borstal Hill windmill was about 24 feet diameter overall with two floors, the first being a semi basement. The top floor of the brick base was the equivalent of a dispatch warehouse and therefore clear of machinery.

The first storey of the timber structure was crowded with hand hewn machinery – timber wheels with apple-wood cogs, leather belt driven grading drums and heavy stone governors suspended overhead. On this floor large doors opened onto a wooden gallery that ran round the mill. Above stood the wooden hull of the windmill tapering to 12 feet in diameter at the top and finally the rotatable hood supporting the sails.

Believed originally built by Foord, by 1808 it was occupied by Joseph Daniels. Subsequent millers, although not necessarily owners, were Edward Lawrence, Henry Somerford (owner), Jonathon Rye, the Callingham brothers and George and William Dawkins.

In 1851 Wynn Ellis, Lord of Whitstable Manor, purchased the windmill from Jane Austin of Upper Hardres. It would be nice to think that meant ‘our windmill ‘ was once owned by Jane Austen noted author of such works as ‘Pride & Prejudice’ who had relatives and reputedly owned property at Godmersham not far from Upper Hardres. Unfortunately the author died in 1817 long before Wynn Ellis purchased the windmill.

By 1860 Henry Somerford had become the owner, James Callingham replacing him in 1866.

Until 1885 the mill was painted white serving as a navigational landmark for Trinity House. In that year much of the old weatherboarding was replaced and the structure tarred, a common practice with buildings in this maritime town. Some authors claim that was against the preference of Trinity House, some record that it was with that organisation’s support.

After being tarred black Borstal Hill windmill became known as ‘The Black Mill’.

Despite the connotations of such a dark name the old mill, being 1792 born, missed ‘The Battle of Bostall Hill’ in 1780, a night time battle between smugglers and Dragoons in which two officers were killed. Rightly or wrongly a youth. Thomas Knight, was tried, convicted and hung for the officers’ murder. The youth’s body was hung in chains on a gibbet on Bostall Hill as a warning to local smugglers. Later the decomposing body was allegedly placed at the door of the person presumed to have informed on him. Reputedly young Thomas Knight’s ghost can still be seen in the town.

By 1899 the mill ceased operating as the need for such a corn mill had passed, no doubt with the aid of steam. On several occasions early in the 20th century sails were seen erected but reports say the mill never turned again by them. The old windmill is locked facing East of North as the strongest winds typically blow from that direction.

After milling ceased in 1899 The Stanhope Shipping Company acquired the property for use as a home for their retired seamen until 1906. Presumably only the mill house was used as the home. The original mill house was separate from the windmill being a little further downhill and closer to the main roadway as shown in the foregoing illustration.

In 1906, (some have written 1904), the mill became the property of H.B. (Henry) Irving and his wife Dorothea, both well known stars of the Edwardian stage. The mill house became their weekend retreat, the windmill itself an unusual but unused garden feature. Dorothea Irving, said to be a warm hearted person better known as ‘Dolly,’ supported London children from deprived homes through a London based charity. In Summer some of those children would enjoy a trip to Whitstable for a day in the windmill’s gardens, a far cry from their usual playground of dismal London streets.

During the Great War, the First World War, ‘the Black Mill’ was reputedly used by observers watching for enemy Zeppelins. It would be nice to discover that they actually saw some and the Windmill served the purpose effectively.

After H.B. Irving died in 1919 Dorothea continued to live in the mill house still entertaining her many friends of theatre and screen.

In the mid 1920s Dorothea and H.B’s son, Laurence Irving OBE, became the owner. He built a large house attached to the mill for his family, moving into the new house in 1928. Laurence refurbished the mill itself. All the weatherboarding and gallery timber was replaced with an emphasis on retaining originality.

A designer for both stage and cinema Laurence converted the first floor to a studio, the ground floor becoming home to a lithographic press. It is nice to think the old mill oversaw design of Laurence’s successful theatre sets for ‘The Man In The Iron Mask’ and ‘Taming of the Shrew’, ‘Hamlet’, ‘The Nelson Touch’ and ‘The Good Companions’ along with film sets for Shaw’s Pygmalion, ‘Major Barbara’ and ’77 Park Lane’.

Illustration 9 below of the Irving house and windmill, viewed from the south east, is based on a mid 1900s photographic experiment to show the complete windmill with its 19th century sails and fantail.

The original mill house, separated from the mill as noted earlier, was replaced about the mid 1930s by a mock Tudor style dwelling shown to the left in Illustration 2 towards the beginning of this article.

The Irvings left the new mill house with the outbreak of war in 1939. Laurence rejoined the RAF having trained as a fighter pilot in the First World War earning his OBE.

Once again the military used the windmill as an observation platform for spotting enemy aircraft. The windmill would have provided an ideal observation post to support the anti aircraft guns on Duncan Downs and the Seasalter golf links as well as the searchlight units situated at Bellevue Road above the Cemetery and even the short range radar site off Grimthorpe Avenue off Borstal Hill. Soldiers were billeted in Mill House in a few cases their families were billeted elsewhere around the Town.

After the war Laurence Irving returned to resume his career but turning to writing and illustrating a number of books associated with the sea. The old windmill no doubt witnessed him enjoying his sailing and paintings of local scenes, most of them, like those of the books, associated with the sea.

The Irving family left the property in 1961. The property was sold to a Mr Harbornne who built a number of motel units along the entrance driveway as shown in Illustration 10 below.

The motel entrance was created in the base of the windmill with a bar and dining room established in the floor above with some of the original machinery adding atmosphere around the latter. Extensive renovation work undertaken on the windmill did not unfortunately extend to a planned re-installation of sails.

1973 saw yet another change in ownership with the Ferrari family taking over. The octagonal shaped ground floor was converted into a restaurant and the accommodation units improved.

Sometime during this period the Giovanni family ran the restaurant. Fourteen years later in 1987 the facility closed. Extensive restoration around 1989 included restoring the cap’s fan and fantail but again, disappointingly, the sails proved too expensive and were not installed.

Since then houses have replaced the motel rooms, the entrance road leading to a courtyard in front of the mill with Laurence Irving’s old house now a private residence. The windmill itself has again been sold (2007.) It will be interesting to see what developments add to the old windmill’s history.

Before we leave ‘The Black Mill’ to look at other Whitstable windmills, illustration 11 (right) is a distant view extracted from a larger year 2007 photograph taken from near the former site of the Millstrood Hill windmill.

Clearly Borstal Hill’s ‘Black Mill’ does not sit on top of the hill as popularly thought.

A misconception no doubt brought about by so many illustrations depicting the windmill from lower down the hill

The band of trees across the scene mark the course of the Gorrel Stream. The trees, now being referred to as Gorrel Wood, extend across the East side of Duncan Down to the left of this scene.

Illustration 11

Little is known about this windmill built prior to 1736. Apparently it was located on the East side of Borstal Hill opposite the bend where the steep section flattens out and about midway between Canterbury Road and Windmill Road as indicated by the white arrow in the earlier Illustration 2. (Also indicated in the Martindown mill location Illustration 12 below). Some early maps have been taken as showing this windmill on the same site as the ‘Black Mill’ but, being of small scale and the windmill symbol or ‘dot’ used so large, they could not clearly show the positions accurately.

Local lore indicated this corn windmill was a small smock mill, possibly by inference when it was referred to as “being a smaller windmill than the one up the hill.” Comparison of symbols on an old small scale map although small and unclear show it may have been a post mill which is more likely for a 1736 windmill. We Stanley Road kids used to play on several large, ancient looking, concrete blocks in that location during the 1940s. Now, looking back, I see the size and triangular placement of the blocks as being consistent with the ‘foundations’ of a post mill. Considering the early forms of transport, the steepness and height of Borstal Hill before the hill was ‘lowered’ and rendered less severe, one can perhaps understand why this early windmill was not built higher up or even on top of the hill to take advantage of clear wind.

Further uphill on the other (western side) of Borstal Hill stood Martindown windmill, reputedly a ‘four storey’ smock mill located near Martindown Farm.

Built prior to 1800, Martindown windmill was believed to predate ‘The Black Mill’. Initially a corn mill, it is shown on a Greenwood map and also on a map of 1819. Later, it appears to have been converted to a pumping mill supplying water to Whitstable until replaced by a more modern water reticulation system not dependant upon the vagaries of the wind. Below: an artist impression of Martindown Windmill looking south over ‘the Long Reach’ area towards Clapham and Wraik Hills.

The windmill is depicted in its heyday, fully equipped, as it would have been before losing staging and eventually its sails.

Either the windmill or adjacent Martingdown Farm were known to have played a part in the local smuggling trade of the 1700s and possibly in the smuggling of escaping French prisoners of war from the Thames moored prison hulks during the Napoleonic war. Signals were reputedly received there from a Clapham Hill farm and then passed on into the town.

Martindown windmill fell into disuse after it was no longer required for water pumping apparently being finally dismantled during the 1930s.

Feakins Mill, shown on an 1819 map off present day Belmont Road, replaced an earlier post mill (Number 5) in about 1785.

A post mill, Feakins mill predecessor is only known to have been built sometime prior to 1785. A windmill is shown in the same location on small scale maps back into the early 16th century. A corn mill, it presumably operated until its replacement, the smock mill, was commissioned. The post mill remained alongside for some time. The smaller cottage shown in the Feakins Mill Illustration 14, converted to a storeroom cum workshop, was by its style and simple structure, most likely the original cottage from the days of the post mill. One of the concrete ‘foundation’ or ‘anchor blocks’ of this windmill could be seen protruding onto the Belmont road footpath outside the joinery works into the 1950s. Some believed those blocks belonged to the steam mill but that was more likely closer to the railway, away from Belmont road and more conveniently placed nearer the early rail yards and coal wagons.

Another post mill stood at Millstrood Hill Farm (‘Brownings’ Farm) part way up Millstrood Hill. Built pre 1800, this windmill is shown on a map of 1819 and several maps in the 1700s.

The windmill also appears, along with Feakins windmill, in a lithograph of a scene depicting the Canterbury & Whitstable Railway on Opening Day the 3rd of May 1830. Only the top and sails of the Millstrood Hill windmill can be seen near the left hand edge of the scene. Some prints of the lithograph do not cover the full area of the original, the Millstrood Hill windmill not being shown.

In about 1950 I found an 1831 reference to this windmill in The Beaney Institute, Canterbury. Details in the reference found indicated the windmill may have been dismantled in or soon after 1831.

A number of references indicate a windmill stood ‘near All Saints Church’, in ‘the Church Street area’ or ‘in Church Field’. At least one reference indicating it was located on Smeeds Farm. An 1819 map shows the location inside the corner formed by Church Street and Ham Shades Lane. Although there are many illustrations of the Church Street area I have not found any which include a windmill of any type.

Referred to in old scripts as ‘Whitstable windmill’, vague references and the map symbol indicate this windmill may have been a small smock mill perhaps of 3 storeys. As this type was relatively new in the 1700s one would expect the Church Street windmill to have survived well into the 1800s, its existence being better recorded.

Another early windmill found reference to in The Beaney Institute, stood about the western end of Long Beach and built prior to 1800. When the harbour was being built in 1830/32 work on the East quay exposed foundations perceived to be ‘foundations of a windmill’, almost certainly the one referred to in the Beaney Institute archives.

Salt works once existed in the area between the Harbour site and Tankerton Hill. A mill, wind or animal driven, of the type shown in Illustration 6, a water scoop, would almost certainly have been used for controlled filling of the salt pans from today’s Whitstable Bay.

Using tidal flooding to fill salt pans can allow accumulating salt to wash back to sea especially in areas prone to tidal surges and high seas as Whitstable’s coast is. Use of the water scoop can overcome those problems and also continue filling salt pans during periods of low tide (if a suitable channel out to sea is provided of course.)

Old texts indicate that a windmill stood at Seasalter although its location has not been accurately determined. Salt works existed there as far back as Roman times or earlier so some form of filling and controlling the water level of salt pans would have been employed either animal or later on wind driven. A wind pump is shown on a 1936 Ordnance Survey map at Graveney but well outside the Whitstable boundary.

Logically there would have been at least one windmill, almost certainly of the scoop type shown by Illustration 6. As references to windmills at Seasalter are vague one can only make a logical guess as to likely locations. I have indicated a general location near ‘The Sportsman’ public house as home to a Seasalter windmill. Evidence of an inlet, other features conducive to salt harvesting, and known actual salt harvesting there render this a likely site for a wind scoop type mill.

Blue Anchor Corner has also been suggested in some scripts but other activities and features around this area have been reported throughout the centuries without reference to a windmill of any sort.

Yet another windmill is shown on an old small scale map on the east side of Ellenden Farm. The establishment of water meadows for development of cleared treed land for pasture was well known from this area to the west.

This windmill, still shown on a 1945 Ordnance Survey map, was almost certainly, a wind pump used to pump water such as the example shown in Illustration 7.

The former St. Anne’s Farm, located at what eventually became the core of early Tankerton, evidently had a corn mill circa the 1700 - 1800s as ‘they milled their own flour’. Remains of what may have been a post mill were reportedly found ‘about the site’ in the early1900s but I have not read any other record to provide further information.

Several local fields bear the name ‘Millfield’ indicating Whitstable may have had other windmills.

Fields so named appear: in the North East corner of Fox’s Cross, Great Mill field on the west side of Rayham Farm, Mill field on the south side of Shrubs Hill, Mill field near Crosslands Corner and Great Mill field at Millstrood on the north side of the Old Thanet Way.

However the name ‘Millfield’ may not necessarily indicate the presence, past or otherwise, of a mill of any type.

Millfield may also derive from ‘Mil’ an earlier term for ‘Knight’, the land therefore belonging to a Knight who would have held the ruling monarch’s land ‘in Knights service’. Millstrood Road can therefore be considered as ‘the road (strood) to either a windmill or the Mil’s (as in Knight’s) residence or property.

I include two other windmills which although not within Whitstable’s present parish or civic boundary were well known to many people, well into the 1920s who considered their home in Blean was part of Whitstable. This was an old concept, no doubt a hangover from the days when Blean was once within the Hundred of Witenstaple. Readers born since the 1920s or ‘new’ to the area and familiar with the Whitstable/Canterbury route may be surprised to learn that two smock corn mills existed side by side in the village of Blean into the 1920s as illustrated below.

This was originally taken from one of a number of very old photographic plates of unknown origin and given to me by a Whitstable Council workmate of my father ‘for my hobby’. The crown of Duncan Down can just be seen below the lower left hand sweep, the roof of the original Mill house further left down hill from the windmill.

For those readers curious about how windmills do their job the following pages may be of interest.

The following simplified diagrams illustrate the basic mechanism of a simple post corn windmill and the bigger, more complex smock corn windmills followed by a basic wind pump diagram. The wind scoop mill was adequately described earlier by Illustration 6.

First we look at a typical but basic illustration of the mechanism in a grain grinding windmill.

Grain is fed into the centre of the top ‘floating’ millstone. ‘Floating’ means the millstone sits on top of the lower driven millstone and is not fixed to a driving shaft. There would be some means of preventing rotation and retaining the ‘floater’ in place.

The rotation of the lower millstone causes the grain to be fed outwards towards the stone perimeter. During its journey across the face of the millstone the grain is progressively ground down to flour or meal by the proximity and weight of the top stone. The miller may have some vertical or weight control over the floating millstone to determine the size of the flour or meal produced and of course to reduce the stones grinding each other more than necessary.

The simplest windmills with canvas sails, called ‘commons’, had no control over speed other than by turning the sweeps (or sails) towards or away from the wind or perhaps by two of the sails being ‘furled’.

An advance on such simple windmills gave some control over speed of operation by adjusting the pitch of each sail. Pitch is the angle of the sail relative to the mainshaft. Illustration 18 below attempts to clarify ‘sail pitch’.

When the sail is at 90⁰ to the shaft, the wind simply hits the sail. When the sail is adjusted several degrees, towards becoming parallel to the shaft, the wind is deflected as shown in the above sketch. As the wind is deflected some of the wind’s energy ‘pushes the sail aside’ causing the sail to rotate thus turning the main shaft. When the sail is adjusted parallel to the shaft it is said to be ‘feathered’, the wind passes by, the sails do not turn. Sail pitch and the explanation of adjusting it is, in principle, common to all of the wind driven mills described in these pages.

A further improvement was the Meikle spring sail of 1772. Similar to a venetian blind each lath being canvas over a wire frame. A ‘sail bar’ adjusted the pitch of these shutters much the same as the cord used when adjusting a venetian blind. Another type used timber bars (shutters, laths) in place of canvas over wire. Such a system of using multiple small shutters gave the windmill more power and the miller finer control over speed. However the miller now had extra toil keeping the sweep mechanism oiled or in winter perhaps removing ice before commencing the days work.

The large smock mills benefited enormously from the introduction of these relatively expensive new ‘patent’ sweeps. Initially two of the four canvas sweeps would be replaced by them and eventually all four.

Another part of the machinery was a brake, in the case or early windmills one of the few means of controlling speed. With the larger smock mills the brake mechanism needed to be very powerful and kept in good order as there was reportedly little hope of the sole miller stopping the mill to adjust his sails, especially those early canvas ones, once speed had built up.

The larger smock mills typically had more than one pair of millstones as shown in the simplified Illustration 19 below. The machinery for driving the millstones would therefore have been more complex with provision for engaging or disengaging any one pair. In addition to controlling speed by adjusting the sails, as explained above, some form of speed controlling governor plus grading drums adds to the complexity of the machinery.