Author: Sussex Miller
Ashcombe Windmill on Kingston Hill, Lewes, in East Sussex now boasts six new sweeps. James Tasker, owner of the mill, commissioned millwrights to fabricate and fit the sweeps using a mobile crane and a cherry picker.
This six sweep post mill was built in 1828 and destroyed during a gale in 1916, but her appearance is well recorded in photographs which have allowed the reconstruction to be almost indistinguishable from the original.
Three of the four original footings are were in place and number of shutter cranks and other iron parts were found lying in the field some 90 years after her collapse. The survival of the footings has allowed a good estimate to be made of the dimensions of the mill and these are very similar to Jill Windmill at Clayton. Ashcombe is believed to be the work of the same millwright, Samuel Medhurst of Lewes, who also worked on Cross in Hand and Windmill Hill mills.
Accommodation will be incorporated within the mill mound so that it is not visible from outside the site. The sweeps will principally be used to generate electricity, with the surplus being exported to the grid. An independent study estimates that the mill will produce a maximum of around 35 kW (45hp) in a strong wind which gives an annual output of around 16,500 kW hours, the electricity consumption of around 3 houses. The export of electricity is a planning requirement which stems from renewable energy policies and the location of the site in the South Downs National Park.
Further details and photographs on this project may be found on the Sussex Mills Group website : sussexmillsgroup.org.uk/ashcombe.htm
