New Mill, Cross in Hand

A wind-powered corn mill in the historic county of Sussex, England.

This derelict mill was, until the late 1960s, one of the finest windmills in Sussex. It is a large post mill dating from the early 19th century which was moved twice within its working career. The mill remains in the ownership of the family that last operated it, the Newnhams. A local enthusiast, Mr R. Hawksley, financed repairs to the mill in the mid-1950s, allowing it to continue working by wind power until 1969 when a sail broke off, causing extensive damage. Since that date a limited amount of repair work has been undertaken.

The mill has a white-painted body clad in metal sheets above a two-storey roundhouse of 25ft diameter. The upper storey of the roundhouse is timber-framed and is protected by sheets of corrugated iron painted white, while the lower storey is of tarred brick. Inside the mill body there are two pairs of millstones in front of the crowntree, operated by underdrift gearing, and a single pair of overdriven tail stones placed centrally at the rear of the body. The fantail, 11ft in diameter, is mounted on a carriage at the end of the tailpole and was originally five-bladed. It was altered to 8 blades in 1907 by Neves, the millwrights of nearby Heathfield. The fantail frame is carried on large iron wheels and the lower end of the tail ladder is fitted with a separate set of small wheels. The mill body is large at 21ft in length by 12ft wide, the total height of the mill being around 45ft. The mill's sweeps are of the patent type, revolving anti-clockwise when viewed from the front, and have eight double bays of shutters. The five inner bays on the leading side do not contain shutters but are covered with wide leading boards in the local style

It was moved twice, once from Mt Ephraim, Framfield.

Full details

Power source	Wind
Mill type	Post mill
Mill function	Corn mill
Archive ID	2654
Location	Cross in Hand
Historic county	Sussex
Country	England, United Kingdom
NGR	TQ 558 218
Latitude/longitude	50.97412861, 0.21761067

Location

Gallery

New mill at work in the early 20th century with the shutters of its sweeps closed
Close-up of the 8-bladed fantail on its wheeled frame
Paper flour bag showing the name of the last millers at New Mill, the Newnhams
Interior view showing part of the brake wheel, wallower, upright shaft and right-hand pair of millstones
Interior view showing part of great spur wheel, stone nut and bridge tree below millstones
Close-up of the front of the mill, when only two sweeps were fitted, showing the metal sheeting on the body
The derelict mill as it appears today, shorn of sweeps and fantail, its condition deteriorating
Photo: Mark Berry
Photo: Mark Berry
Photo: Mark Berry