Vincent Pargeter has commented on the curious sweeps on the smock mill near Faversham shown in the Mills Archive’s new Flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/millsarchive/ The site and Vincent’s note are both of interest!
The outer pair of sweeps on the flikr photo of the smock mill at Preston Nr Faversham are wide and significantly tapered. The inner pair are narrower and maybe tapered only slightly.
The wide pair may be typical of the earlier Kentish sweeps dating, perhaps, to the time before steam engines. To have this degree of taper, the shutters must be different lengths, each one made to fit in its position only.I think that Headcorn Mill had a similar pair. I wonder which millwright made these sweeps? — Vincent