WEST BLATCHINGTON WINDMILL

By Peter Hill - President, Friends of West Blatchington Windmill, Reg. Charity No 283815

West Blatchington Windmill in Holmes Avenue, Hove, rises today like a phoenix not from the ashes but from the spread of suburbia. However, until the late 1930s, the area was very much a rural one comprising a small village with a manor house, a church and Court Farm. When William Hodson leased the farm from the Abergavenny Estates in 1802 it had grown to over 700 acres and over 1600 head of sheep were recorded here.

Hodson employed a miller, two shepherds, a blacksmith and eleven labourers and obviously felt there was a need to provide both flour and animal feed so eventually decided to have a windmill built. The flint and brick tower is a remnant of an earlier dovecote to which abutted barns to the west, north and south and provided the ideal base upon which to construct the windmill - and so circa 1820 the wooden mill was erected.

The windmill is known as a ‘smock’ mill due to the resemblance in silhouette to the all encompassing garment worn by millers and shepherds. Conventionally eight sided the mill here is six sided and is thought to have been built not by a millwright but by a shipwright due to the use of many ship’s timbers said to have come from a local shipwreck.

There are no known title deeds, however, she is shown on Greenwoods map of 1823 and the first pictorial record we have is the delightful watercolour painted by John Constable on 5th November 1825.

(Windmills are always referred to as female as they were known as the sailing ships of the land due to the fact that sail cloths, which were used to cover the sweeps, were reefed and luffed in order to catch or spill the wind.) She was a busy mill not only powering two pairs of stones, one for animal feed and the other for flour, but also a threshing machine, a winnower, two chaff cutters and an oat crusher, examples of which are all on display in the mill today. Being an arable farm wheat, oats and barley would have been readily available. The first recorded miller was Edward Ledgerton who was eventually succeeded by William Strudwick and he at the age of 85 was replaced by George Whittington. By now the tenancy had passed to John and George Hodson, sons of William, and then around 1880 a John Brown took over.

Photographs of the early 1890s show a very idyllic and rural scene with the mill in working order, sheep grazing and ducks on the pond.

But things were to change when in 1897 a tremendous storm blew off two of the sweeps and this effectively was to see the end of the working life of the mill. She remained in a state of disrepair for many years and there are stories of smuggling with the contraband brandy, tobacco, and so on concealed in sacks of meal. To discourage onlookers there were tales of a ghost which reputedly haunted the old north barn!

On Sunday 3rd May 1936 disaster struck when a fire thought to have started in two wagons of hay totally destroyed the long south barn and it was only thanks to the action of the local fire brigade and the fact that with wind blowing directly from the north the flames were fanned away that the wooden mill was spared. Eventually the remains of the barn and machinery were cleared away and the site tidied up. By now Hove Corporation wanted to extend Holmes Avenue (named after Samuel Holmes who owned Gibbet Farm near Elm Drive). Holmes Avenue then reached only as far as where Bishop Hannington church stands today. The well worn elm-tree lined track up to the mill was the obvious route to take and in April 1937 the mill and surrounding grounds were purchased from the Abergavenny Estates for £3,400 on the understanding that the mill would remain on site.

So the Avenue was extended and the mill isolated on the central island where she stands today. By 1938 the old north barn was becoming unsafe and so was demolished leaving just the west barn abutting the flint and brick base. During the following months the tower was re-clad in unpainted cedar wood, remedial work carried out within the mill, and new dummy sweeps erected by Neeves millwrights of Heathfield. By September 1939 the windmill looked resplendent once more but a photograph shows the entrance door shielded by sandbags as war had been declared and the mill was to be used as an Air Raid Precautions post. A letter published in the Daily Mirror of 23rd October 1939 (on display in the mill) makes very interesting reading. Although it is West Blatchington windmill, for security reasons the mill is not named. Once the war was over no further use was made of the mill other than for storage purposes. It was not until 1977 that the head of the Planning Department of Hove Borough Council had an article published in the local press stating that there were plans to open the mill to the public. With that in mind the article sought the help of volunteers to clean, restore and paint the interior whilst exterior work would be carried out by the Council. The following two years saw many willing helpers come forward and offer their help.

On 14th July 1979 we proudly opened the mill to the public for the first time. Subsequently over the following 46 years a small nucleus of ardent mill enthusiasts have devoted much of their spare time to gradually restoring the mill floor by floor until she is back to as she was in her working life. But she is not a working mill but a museum housing a wide variety of artefacts and machinery associated with life in and around the whole complex.

During these years new sweeps have been built, new cladding put on the wooden body and much essential restoration and preservation of major timbers has been carried out. We are now considered to be one of the finest mill museums in the country and a magnificent monument to our milling heritage.

Once we had opened we realised that the mill was an invaluable educational resource and so we felt that if we could have one of the barns rebuilt it could offer the opportunity for schools to visit and for use as a community resource. With this in mind over the subsequent ten years meetings were held with the Council but no final decision was made until suddenly we were informed that if the foundations were laid before unification with Brighton the reconstruction could go ahead!

Using the footprint of the original north barn work commenced on 3rd March 1997 and by the 10th May the new north barn was complete. Fully equipped with tables, chairs, carpeted floor, lighting, heating, a small kitchen and a toilet all of which have disabled access, it is very well used by the community with many groups holding their regular meetings there. It is also very much favoured by individuals for family celebrations ranging from anniversaries to wakes!

Space here does not permit me to include all that has gone on and has been done in those 47 years. Although our ultimate aim of preservation for future generations has been achieved, we cannot rest on our laurels.

We welcome visitors to the windmill. The mill is open every Sunday afternoon throughout May to September from 2.30 pm to 5.00 pm. The entry fees are £2.00 for adults and £1.00 for children of school age. On request we also arrange tours for groups on other days. In the mill there are steps up to the first floor and ladders to higher floors. On Sundays we offer tea and cake in the north barn. In order to do this we are desperately looking for more volunteers to help on the reception counter, guide visitors around, and serve teas.

If you are interested in helping, please would you contact us on our website at www.westblatchingtonwindmill.org or email fwbwindmill@gmail.com.