Author: Ron Madden
Is there a windmill expert who would be prepared to have a look at the following highly unusual Australian windmill? It appears that I may have a type of windmill not previously documented here.
PORT FAIRY, Victoria (formerly BELFAST) – STRUTH’s wooden windmill built 1847.
The image is from the State Library of Victoria and is signed and dated in pencil: C. Maplestone 28/11/59.
Please note that although Struth’s windmill featured a buck or at least a large “shed” that resembles the buck of a post mill, a highly detailed drawing held by the SLV makes it quite clear that the tower of Struth’s windmill at Port Fairy was that of a smock mill, evidently featuring more faces than the standard octagonal smock mill. What is not clear however (especially given the size of the “buck”) is whether the smock tower also had a main pole.
Struth’s windmill was either:
1) If fitted with a main pole, a most unusual composite mill (evidently built that way rather than being a conversion from a post mill that entailed the addition of a short tower, as was the norm for most composite mills in Oz).
or
2) If not fitted with a main pole, a highly unusual smock mill fitted with a cap that just happened to be in the shape of the buck of a post mill.
Regards,
Ron Madden
Wagga Wagga, Australia
