Windmill machinery
Donald Muggeridge toured the country in search of windmills as many of them were reaching the end of their working lives. His photographs of small details of the interiors of these mills show different individual and regional characteristics of machinery.
Muggeridge’s eye for detail resulted in many splendid photographs which form a valuable record for present-day restorers of some of the mills they depict. Other examples that he photographed have since been house-converted, deliberately cleared or simply left to deteriorate.
Many photographs that have been categorised as ‘exterior views’ are actually interiors, illustrating mills that have been severely damaged or stripped of their cladding, revealing their inner workings. Muggeridge photographed many mill components lying on the ground, most of which must have made their way there unaided!
Tail wheel and tail stones
The tail wheel and tail stones of the post mill – Mount Ephraim Mill, Ash, Kent, 1940. The mill collapsed in a gale in 1955 when negotiations were in progress for its purchase by Kent County Council for preservation.
Great spur wheel and stone nut
Interior of smock mill showing cast-iron spur wheel and stone nut – underdrift arrangement. Gardner’s Mill, Hatfield Peverel Essex, 1940.
Wooden stone nut
Wooden stone nut disengaged from great spur wheel – overdrift arrangement. Herne smock mill, Kent, 1940.
Cast-iron stone nut
Cast-iron stone nut showing jacking mechanism – underdrift arrangement. Ripple Mill, Kent, 1940.
Centrifugal governors
Millstone governors of unusual design at Mount Ephraim post mill, Ash, Kent, 1940.
Sack hoist inside post mill
Sack hoist apparatus in roof, Aythorpe Roding post mill, Essex, 1941.
Sack hoist drive from windshaft
Chain drive to sack hoist from pulley wheel mounted on windshaft, Chillenden post mill, Kent, 1939.