Lancashire Post Mills: A Preliminary Technical Summary
Full details
| Authors & editors | |
| Publisher | Mills Research Group |
| Year of publication | 1988 March |
| Languages | |
| Medium | Digital |
| Edition | 1 |
| Topics | |
| Tags | |
| Scope & content | Early windmills have been recorded in Liverpool at Eastham in 1257, as well as in the surrounding villages in the 12th and 13th centuries. These early windmills were probably post mills. William Yates recorded 95 windmills in his map of Lancashire, which was surveyed between 1775 and 1780 and published in 1786. Although Yates did not distinguish accurately between post and tower mills, it is fairly certain that the majority of them were post mills, and at least 30 of them can be shown to have been post mills from other sources. It is no longer possible to survey the post mills of Lancashire, as they have all been either blown or burnt down, demolished, or replaced by tower mills in the late 18th or early 19th centuries. The only remains still visible are the sunken post and four quarter bars of Warton mill, which stand next to the former miller's house in Mill Lane. Photographs of five mills exist; those at Warton, Hambleton, Birkdale, Formby and Wavertree. These five mills were all situated on the western plain of the old county, and were typical of the early timber windmills of the midlands and northwest. These remains and photographic records make it possible to reconstruct some details of their technical development and history. |