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Technical descriptions of English windmills

LINCOLNSHIRE FULNEY-K

FULNEY

Post mill, gone

The mill was winded by a tailpole fantail with the carriage running on a gravel track. Two single and two double-shuttered spring sails drove two pairs of stones in the breast.(1)

(1) TMS September 1940, in HESS

FULSTOW

Tower mill, stump remains

TF330965

A five-storey tarred mill standing 48ft high to the curb and 60ft to the cap. The internal diameter was 22ft at the ground floor and 11ft at the curb, which was live with the rack inside. In 1917 a sail of memel was put on and in 1930 the opposite one, of pine, was renewed. Originally the sails had a 9” weatherboard {it is not clear what this means} but later 6” shutters, canvas-covered, were fitted. The iron windshaft was round at the neck tapering to square at the tail. The 7ft 6” all-iron brakewheel was eight-armed with large iron circular boss plates clamped on, and the teeth were bolted on in segments of twelve. The wallower was also iron, including the plate on its underside which friction-drove the sack hoist, bearing on a 3ft 6in 8-spoke iron gear with a two and a half inch tyre on the narrow square spindle of the hoist which at its other end carried a 16” Y-wheel for the chain. The wooden (iron, and tapering, on the stone floor) upright shaft was 13” square and strengthened at intervals by clamps.

 There were three pairs of 4ft stones on the fourth floor down. A fourth pair, 3ft 6” diameter, had been taken up to allow space for a Bentall crusher which was belt-driven from a small dynamo on the floor above. The iron great spur wheel was 7ft in diameter with eight arms. The stone nuts were iron mortice; beneath one of them on the quant was a flanged drum from which a Thompson mixer, its lid at floor level, was belt-driven.

 The mill was geared fairly high and was very well blown; with a full wind the sails would do twelve revolutions per minute.(1)

(1) HESS

GAINSBOROUGH, five-sailed mill, Spital Hill

Tower mill

SK822904

The tower was finely built of untarred red brick with an internal diameter of 23 feet 6in at the ground floor and 10ft at the curb.

The cap came from one of the Cleethorpes mills and was put on by Thompsons of Alford. The curb was dead with the rack inside at the side. The windshaft was of iron, 8” square at the brakewheel and 10” diameter at the neck journal which was outside the cap proper and covered by a small wooden box with a hinged lid. The brakewheel was approximately 7ft diameter with iron segment teeth of two and a half inch pitch. The brake was of wood, the brake lever iron as was the wallower, which had a flat iron friction ring on its underside bearing on a wood-faced iron wheel on the sack hoist spindle. The wooden upright shaft was 13” square, the great spur wheel iron with 88 teeth, 2/8 of an inch pitch by 5in face by one and a half inch depth, cast integrally with it. The iron mortice stone nuts had 20 teeth each. There were four pairs of stones, two French and two peak, overdriven on the second floor.(1) One of the French runners had a cast-iron ring around the eye bearing the maker’s name and the date 1840(2). The other was dated 1845. A single governor controlled all the stones.(3) Each pair had a bell alarm mounted on a pillar bolted to the bottom board of the shoe by means of a flat harp string. When at work the bell was drowned in grain but when the shoe was empty the bell could ring its warning.(4) 

(1) RW 1928  

(2) RW 1953

(3) RW 1928

(4) RW Science Museum 10/1/1973

GEDNEY DROVE END

Tower mill, gone

TF464294

The four-storey tower was tarred and had been raised ten feet in 1896, the new section being cylindrical. A new cap, with a gallery and gilded finial (the latter having always been a feature of the mill), and sails were put on at the same time.(1) There were four single-shuttered clockwise sails, carried in a poll end rather than the usual Lincolnshire cross.(2) The fantail had six blades and the drive to the curb was in four stages(3). The curb rested on wooden blocks and the rack was at the side with the teeth on top. The brakewheel, dating from c1876, was of wood with an iron brake. The windshaft was iron, the upright shaft wooden and three and a half inches deep.(4) The great spur wheel was very small(5). Two pairs of stones, on the east and west sides respectively, in circular tuns were overdriven and there was a dresser. The single governor was on the north side.(6)

(1) HESS 10th September 1946

(2) HESS

(3) HRH in HESS

(4) HESS

(5) HRH in HESS

(6) HESS

GEDNEY DYKE

Tower mill, standing today

TF416262

This was at one time the tallest working windmill in Lincolnshire. A very fine specimen, it still stands without cap, sails or windshaft but with most of the machinery below the curb intact, and it is hoped something can be done to ensure its preservation.

 The red brick tower, which bears the inscription “CIR 1836”, has seven floors; there was formerly an iron(1) gallery at the third. It stands 68ft tall to the curb and with the cap had a total height of 80-85 feet. The internal diameter is 24ft 6” at ground level and 12ft at the curb. The latter was dead with the rack inside at the side.(2) The drive from the fantail to the curb was in five stages(3). There were six patent sails, 33ft long(4), which seemed disproportionately small compared to the rest of the mill. They had replaced a slightly larger set of 36 feet each(5). The windshaft was of iron with a 10” diameter neck journal. The brakewheel and brake were wood, the former having 96 iron segment teeth of 3” pitch and 4¾” face.(6) The wallower is large and of iron with 68 teeth(7); it drives the sack hoist through iron friction ring and wheel. The upright shaft is part iron and part wood, the wooden portion being 14 and a half inches square. The great spur wheel is iron (R Hawksley in the Simmons Collection says iron mortice) with 120 teeth of two and a half inch pitch, 7in face and 1¾ inch depth. The stone nuts are iron mortice with 18 teeth. Two pairs of 4ft French stones and two of 4ft 6in peaks are overdriven on the third floor; latterly all could be driven by wind or by engine. The single governor was belt-driven from the foot of the upright shaft.(8) The bridgetrees are of iron with no brayers(9). There are two auxiliary upright shafts, one driving a flour machine on the first floor, the other apparently a vertical smutter, now removed, on the fifth. The fourth and fifth floors contain the bins. The first floor is supported by iron columns.(10)

(1)  HRH in HESS

(2)  RW 1928, in HESS

(3)  HRH in HESS

(4)  Ibid

(5)  Ibid

(6)  RH 1928, in HESS

(7)  RW 1953

(8)  RW 1928

(9)  HRH in HESS

(10) Ibid

Norwell Millwrights (Dave Gregory) report on visit to Gedney Dyke windmill, 28th November 2001: The windmill was built in 1836 for a Mr Rubbins and worked by wind until 1942. The sails were removed in 1947. It had six single pressure patent sails and a stage with iron handrails at meal floor level. There were eight floors in total. The cap was a typical Lincolnshire ogee with finial. This must have been a powerful mill because it drove eight pairs of stones. After the removal of the cap a concrete roof was placed on the top floor beams.

 The eight-storey brick tower is in good condition and no cracks were observed in the brickwork on the top floor level. The mill retains all its machinery from the seventh floor down. The top section of the upright shaft and wallower are missing. The red brick tower is fitted with cast-iron window frames, which have a centre pivoting section. Most of the windows now contain little if any glass, which does permit the ingress of moisture but does allow the building to quickly dry out. The frames are corroded but could be refurbished and reused. The position of the staging brackets is visible from the outside of the tower. The walls are 18” thick. The ground floor contains a wire machine, the drive to which appears to be complete. The stairs on the lower floors are of high quality joinery for an industrial building, having mouldings to rails and posts {as at Moulton}. The undersides of the stairs are boarded.

 The first floor contains a drive shaft to power the wire machine below. The walls have vertical boards and a window is blocked suggesting that at one time grain was stored here. The wall was plastered above the level of the boarding. In the centre of the room are two unusual cast-iron triangulated supports for the floor above.

 The second floor is the meal floor and is very original and complete. It retains the tentering gear to control the gap between the four pairs of stones on the floor above. The sack retaining hooks are still present as are the steelyards from the governors. This floor is excellently laid out for the convenience of the miller’s bagging-off and the tentering screws are conveniently located. It is the most original and complete example of a meal floor the writer has seen, for example the brass bearings and other small fittings are still in place. There are two doors, which would have opened onto the staging. They have raised and yielded panels, which again is unusual for an industrial building, and blacksmith-made wrought iron hinges.

 The third floor is the stone floor. There are two pairs of French stones and two pairs of peaks. The stone vats, hoppers and horses are all present, along with miller’s willows complete with cord. There is a very unusual and interesting wooden stone crane, which has cast-iron gearing operating a rope pulley system. The cast-iron great spur wheel of just over 8ft diameter drives the stones via iron stone nuts. The glut boxes are of cast iron. At the foot of the cast-iron upright shaft is the pulley to drive the governor on the floor below by means of a flat belt. Two other pinions are also driven from the great spur wheel.

 The fourth floor contains bins for grain storage and the encased upright shaft passes through it. An auxiliary drive from the great spur wheel terminates here in a cast-iron pulley, which may have been used to drive grain-cleaning equipment in the past.

There is a further bin floor.

 The next floor also contains bins and the cast-iron upright shaft is enclosed at the lower end. The top of the upright shaft has a bearing mounted on a substantial casting between the floorbeams of the floor above. This coupling type suggests the short top section of the upright shaft was of timber construction. The curb anchor bolts pass through this floor to be secured to the floorbeams.

 The top floor is partially concreted over but has collapsed in the centre. It has also collected debris allowing grass and weeds to grow. The curb was originally built on a substantial circular ring. This was secured to the tower by anchor bolts held in timber chords at the top and passing down to floorbeams below. The curb has an inside cog ring for cap winding and is a composite made of several castings bolted to the timber ring. The cast-iron curb is complete and in good condition though the timber is decayed and distorted.

 There are a number of outbuildings including the granary, bakery, stables and cart sheds. The mill house is included in the Listing. The granary next to the mill is without its roof but the other buildings are in a better state. They are red brick with Welsh slate roofs.  

GEDNEY HILL

Tower mill

TF334116

The tower had eight floors with two doors at right angles to one another on the ground floor and two opposite on the first. The upright shaft and great spur wheel were iron, and the latter had a small secondary cog ring on top driving the sack hoist. There were four pairs of stones on the first floor, which was supported on iron columns. Each pair of stones had a single iron tentering bar. The governors were driven from a gearwheel at the bottom of the upright shaft. A secondary upright shaft drove a smutter on the ground floor and there was also a large flour machine.(1)

(1) HRH in HESS

GOSBERTON Risegate

Tower mill

TF221301

This is a small three-storey mill of red brick. It had a poll end rather than a cross, and a small wooden clasp-arm brakewheel.(1)

(1) HESS

GOSBERTON, Green’s Mill

Tower mill

The red brick tower has four floors. The curb is dead and there are three centring wheels on each side. There were four spring sails on backs. The windshaft is iron and round, tapering from 9” diameter at the head to 5” at the tail. The brakewheel, 7ft diameter with six iron arms and an iron-cogged(1) wood rim, was keyed to it in such a fashion as to be a “close fit”. The brake was wooden, the wallower iron. The wood upright shaft had no coupling and was supported by a beam positioned close under the great spur wheel, instead of going right down to the floor. The wooden great spur had iron teeth cast in segments.(2) A Mr Sommerfield described this as “a regular ramshackle mill”(3). The mill had ceased work long before Simmons carried out his inspection of it in the 1940s. There had been three pairs of stones two of which, 4ft 4” peaks, were used as door steps at the nearby office for the business. The mill was used as a silo for the adjoining power mill but the cap frame and windshaft, with one of the arms of the cross broken, remained in place and still do. A conical roof replaces the original cap.(4)

(1) H Cobbin August 1946, in HESS

(2) H Cobbin, in HESS

(3) HESS 

(4) HC (in HESS); HESS 12th September 1946; photographic evidence)

GOSBERTON, Westhorpe Mill

Post mill, gone

The mill had a roundhouse, two common and two spring sails, and a wooden windshaft and brakewheel. A pair of French stones and another of 4ft greys were driven.(1)

(1) A Mr Avery in HESS, 3rd November 1946

GRAINTHORPE

Tower mill

TF382970

This mill was winded by a wheel and chain(1).

(1) HESS

GRIMOLDBY

Tower mill

This was a four-storey mill driving one pair of French and two pairs of greys(1).

(1) HESS

HAGWORTHINGHAM

Tower mill, standing today

TF344697

The four-storey brick tower was cement-faced. The rack was on the inside and there were eight centring wheels, four in the head and four in the tail.(1) The four single-sided sails, measured by Hawksley at 34ft 6” long, had canvas shutters and a span of 64 feet. The striking gear was of the pull rod type with the shutters opening backwards(2). The iron windshaft was 6” square from the neck to the brakewheel and round behind. The brakewheel was a 7ft diameter wood clasp-arm with iron teeth in segments let in flush about 3” from the perimeter. The iron brake was strengthened with a heavy wooden band. The iron wallower was 3ft in diameter with the usual wooden friction ring for the sack hoist drive, engaging a 20” wooden drum on a 2” square spindle carrying a wooden Y-wheel 18” in diameter.(3)

 The wooden upright shaft was 14” (elsewhere Wailes says nineteen and three quarters) square with chamfered corners and a nicely moulded stop chamfer below the great spur wheel. A pot and pintle thrust bearing at the bottom was let into an adjustable sprattle beam.(4) On the second floor down it carried a 6ft wood clasp-arm great spur wheel with iron teeth. The iron mortice stone nuts were 18” in diameter. There were three pairs of stones: two greys, one 4ft 4in and the other 4ft 6in, and one pair of 4ft 4in French. The single pair of governors were on the first floor and driven by a short belt from the base of the upright shaft on the second. There was an auxiliary upright shaft which could be slid sideways out of gear; through a second shaft, passing through the wall of the ground floor, and gear it drove a chaff cutter across the mill yard. The bin and dust floors appear to have been combined, and the spout floor was partly enclosed.(5) 

(1) HESS

(2) HRH in HESS

(3) HESS

(4) RW in HESS

(5) HRH in HESS

HALTON HOLEGATE

Tower mill, gone

TF414646

This is a very small mill, thirty feet high, with three floors the top one of which was only just sufficient to accommodate the cap machinery and bins. The brickwork was cemented over on the ground floor.(1) There was a brake on the fantail, which required a long stick to put it in use(2). The curb was dead and the rack outside. There were six centring wheels, two each side and one at the back and front. The sails were each 29ft long; there were two single- and two double-sided patents with canvas shutters, those of one pair opening upwards. The singles were 6ft wide and the doubles 9ft. The windshaft had a thorn neck bearing. The 7ft diameter wooden brakewheel, with iron brake, had iron teeth bolted on in segments. The iron mortice wallower had a friction ring for the 2ft wooden drum on the sack hoist spindle, which was let into the wall. The bollard was wood and iron-straked. The wood upright shaft was 12” square becoming round on the stone floor. The 6ft wooden clasp-arm great spur wheel was strengthened by an additional iron cross. It had 60 iron teeth of 3¼” pitch. Through 15” iron mortice stone nuts two pairs of stones, one 4ft grey and the other 4ft 4in French, were driven. Owing to limited space elsewhere the large governors were placed on the stone floor immediately beneath the ceiling, the first stage of the tentering gear being in the form a rod going down to the ground (spout) floor. An octagonal wooden secondary upright shaft descended to the ground floor where it drove a dresser via an 18” iron mortice nut and a 3ft clasp-arm wood bevel gear(3). The ground floor was stone-paved(4). 

(1) HESS

(2) HRH in HESS

(3) HESS

(4) HRH in HESS

HANTHORPE

Tower mill

The cap was winded by tailpole(1). The great spur wheel had an iron hub, rim and segment teeth and eight wood arms(2). There were three pairs of stones with provision for working by steam(3).

(1) HESS

(2) RW in HESS

(3) HESS

HAXEY, Haxey Mill

Tower mill

SE773012

The tower had five storeys, with two pairs of stones on the first floor. The upright shaft was of wood and iron; There were a scourer and screen on the third floor. Latterly an additional pair of stones were worked by engine on the ground floor.(1)

(1) HRH in HESS

HEAPHAM

Tower mill, standing today

SK873887

Built in 1876 by the millwright Johnson of Low Burnham, Haxey, to replace a post mill, Heapham mill worked until c1950 when it was damaged by lightning. It was repaired and started up again by the owner, Mr Hewitt, who received a Windmill Certificate from the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in recognition of his efforts, but in 1956 lightning again struck, breaking the windshaft in two and smashing the sails.(1) This time reconditioning proved too expensive and the mill stood derelict until Mr Hewitt was able to carry out a second restoration in the 1990s. The mill was returned to something like a working condition with new cap, sails, windshaft and fantail but did not grind corn. Sadly, a few years ago the sails were recently found to be decayed and taken down; so far they have not been replaced, although the mill otherwise remains complete and in a good state of repair. They were double-shuttered patents; striking is by rocking lever with a “tyre” used to weight the chain. An iron windshaft carries an all-iron brakewheel with flanged arms. The brake is in the form of an iron band applied by a wooden lever which is curved towards its forward end. 

 The mill is a small one, with three storeys plus the dust floor which as is usually the case is relatively shallow. The tarred brick tower is crowned with the usual Lincolnshire ogee cap. The cap frame consists of breast beam, sheers, the lateral timber in front of the brakewheel, sprattle beam, and tailbeam. The curb is dead. Eight centering wheels, mounted in blocks of wood on the undersides of the cap frame members, are provided: one on the breast beam, one on each sheer between the second lateral timber and the sprattle beam, one on each sheer just aft of the sprattle beam, one on each sheer towards the rear end where the tailbeam meets it, and one on a short timber projecting rearwards from the tailbeam at mid-point. 

 The fantail gearing, which is mounted in an iron frame, is rather elaborate: the inclined shaft enters the cap through a hole in the boarding to mesh with the larger of two bevel nuts on a horizontal shaft to which a crank is attached for hand winding. The smaller bevel nut meshes with a four-armed toothed horizontal iron gear on a vertical shaft and the final stage is by two meshing horizontal gears, a second vertical shaft and a nut engaging with the teeth of the rack.

DUST FLOOR

The sack-hoist is located on the southeast side. The wood friction rim on the iron wallower bears on a six-armed iron pulley on a short iron spindle to which the wooden bollard is bolted. The hoist is mounted in the usual support frame, with here a separate wooden lever for raising and lowering the timber in which the bearing is located and so taking it in/out of gear.

 Several odd parts are stored on the floor, namely a triangle, a fork iron and a centring wheel. 

FLOOR BELOW DUST FLOOR

There are windows on the east and west sides. The stairwell is on south side. A portable ladder is used to gain entry to the dust floor. Six bolts, within apertures in the wall, for anchoring down the curb are located equidistantly around the circumference of the tower. On this floor and on the bin floor the upright shaft is of wood and square with chamfered corners.

BIN FLOOR

The windows are on the east and west sides. The stairwell and the ladder to floor above are on the west side, the bins on the south and southeast.

STONE FLOOR

The windows are on the north, east and west sides. The stairwell is on the southwest side, the ladder to the bin floor on southeast. On this floor the upright shaft is iron and cylindrical.

 There are two pairs of stones on the north and east sides; these and the stone nuts and quants came from another mill during the most recent restoration, as the originals had been removed and installed in Heage mill in Derbyshire when that was renovated in 1973. There was originally a third pair but all trace of this has now gone. The eastern stones are fed by a vertical, cylindrical spout mounted directly above them. The great spur wheel is all-iron with eight arms and the stone nuts large and of iron mortice type.

SPOUT (GROUND) FLOOR

The entrance door is on the southwest side, the windows on the east and west. The ladder to the stone floor is on the northwest side. A “dummy floor” supports the upright shaft, two longitudinal timbers carrying the bridge beam between them and at this point being given additional support by vertical posts from ground level. The bridgetrees are iron and of dogleg type; the southern one is mounted between the longitudinal timbers and the eastern between a pair of lateral timbers running off them. The governor is driven from the upright shaft, but not by belt; an all-iron toothed gear on the base of the upright shaft meshes with a small all-iron nut on the governor spindle, which is located just to the north of it, mounted on a lateral timber between the two vertical posts. Twin steelyards run south-east to links on the eastern end of the southern bridgetree and the southern end of the eastern one, with the usual hand tentering screws being provided. Unusually the governor regulates the twist pegs and crook strings as well as the stones(2).

 At one time there was a 22 h.p. Hornsby crude oil engine on this floor which worked a mixer, a jog scry and a second sack hoist, but all this equipment has now gone(3).

Based on survey carried out by Guy Blythman 20th June 2015. Many thanks to the owners, Mr and Mrs Neil Winter, for allowing access.

(1) P Dolman, Lincolnshire Windmills

(2) Neil Everitt, “Windmill Hoppers” 25/6/2015

(3) HESS; RH 1946 in HESS

HECKINGTON, Mowbray’s Mill

Tower mill, stump remains

TF135442

The mill had five storeys, with a stage at the second. There were at one time six sails. The wallower was a face gear; R Hawksley appears to suggest that both it and the brakewheel had a mixture of wood and iron teeth. The upright shaft was iron, the great spur wheel wooden with iron cog ring. There were two pairs of peak stones on the stone floor and one of burrs raised above the ground floor and mainly worked by engine latterly, via a horizontal and vertical shaft. A flour machine on the ground floor was later removed. There was an elevator to the stone floor.(1)

(1) HRH in HESS

HECKINGTON

Eight-sailed mill (Pocklington’s Mill)

Tower mill, standing today

SK145435

Undoubtedly one of England’s “flagship windmills”, and possibly the most visually impressive. Built in 1830 (it bears a datestone) by the millwright Edward Ingledew, it originally had five sails but these and the cap were blown off in 1890. The mill was subsequently bought by John Pocklington who in 1891-2 refitted it with the eight sails, cap and machinery (excepting the wallower and the upper section of the upright shaft, which are thought to have come from Heckington) of Skirbeck mill at Boston; the latter had been built and operated by the millwrights and engineers Tuxfords {the machinery being presumably of their manufacture}. The mill worked into the 1940s and in 1953 was bought and restored by the then Kesteven County Council, from whom it passed to Lincolnshire County Council. Under the latter’s aegis the mill was restored to working order with new shutters being fitted to the sails.(1) The Heckington Windmill Trust are now responsible for its operation and day-to-day maintenance.

 The tarred six-storey tower has a stage at third-floor level and the usual ogee cap, here a little too big for the curb, and fantail are fitted. The mill is the only one remaining in the country to have eight sails; they are single-sided and are linked together at their outer ends by iron rods to prevent excessive sagging, a rare feature which in Dolman’s opinion is probably unnecessary, and gives the whole the look of a giant cobweb (with, of course, an eight-legged “spider” at the centre). Striking is by rocking lever. The iron windshaft carries a timber clasp-arm brakewheel, with iron cog ring and wood brake, meshing with a bevelled eight-armed iron wallower on an iron upright shaft. There are four short ribs on the windshaft, running the first two or three feet of its length behind the brakewheel. The curb is dead, the rack of iron and segmented; the wooden ring on which it rested was renewed in steel during repairs to the mill in 1999-2003. The cap frame, whose members are very substantial, is of conventional design with nine truck wheels in all; two paired at each end of the intermediary lateral timber between the weather and sprattle beams, on iron plates in the angles between the timbers and the sheers, one on each sheer just aft of the sprattle beam, one on each sheer just forward of the tailbeam, on iron plates as with the forward wheels, and one beneath the tailbeam on the underside of the casting incorporating the tail bearing of the windshaft. The four forward wheels compensate for the absence of one underneath the weather beam. One of the left forward pair of wheels has been displaced and lies on the floor.

 Above the fantail gearing, which is mounted on the right-hand (looking towards the weather beam) side, is a large wooden roller for the brake rope. The diagonal members of the fan cradle terminate at the sheers halfway between the tail and sprattle beams, and a section of the right-hand one has been cut away to allow the large horizontal bevel gear of the fan mechanism to turn. 

 The sack hoist is on the northwest side of the mill, a segmented wood friction rim on the underside of the wallower engaging with a six-armed iron pulley on the square iron horizontal shaft, at whose other end is a wood pulley with eight iron forks for the chain. The neck of the layshaft is mounted in the usual hinged timber between two vertical posts, with a long lever, fitted with a rope, running parallel to the layshaft and to the wall for putting the hoist mechanism in and out of gear with the wallower. 

FLOOR BELOW DUST FLOOR

There are windows on the east and west sides. The stairwell is on the southwest side with the ladder to the dust floor just to the north of it. The sack trap is also on the southwest side, close to the ladder. The upright shaft is octagonal and below this floor is encased in protective trunking.

BIN FLOOR

Again there are windows on the east and west sides. The stairwell is on the southeast side with the ladder to the floor above adjacent to it. There are small bins on the northwest and southeast sides, plus a large one taking up the whole of the southwest quarter of the floor, with the sack trap in it. On the northwest side is a vertical shaft coming up from the stone floor and terminating in a casting bolted to a ceiling beam. On the shaft is a small bevel nut engaging a larger bevel gear on a horizontal shaft, positioned at a 45-degree angle, on which is a solid iron pulley from which a belt goes to a leather-bound solid wood pulley on the spindle of a wheat cleaner slung under the ceiling. The horizontal shaft turns at each end in a casting on a hanger from the ceiling.

STONE FLOOR

There are windows on the east and west sides and doors onto the stage on the north and south. The ladder to the bin floor is on the southeast side with the stairwell immediately south-west of it.

 The all-iron eight-armed great spur wheel overdrives three pairs of stones on the east, west and south via iron mortice nuts on square quants. On the northwest side it meshes with a fourth nut on the vertical shaft which drives the wheat cleaner on the floor above. Beneath the nut the lower end of the shaft is located in an iron hanger and provided with a glut box plus a rod and screw for (dis)engaging the mechanism manually. On the north side is a fifth nut on a square vertical iron shaft which descends to the ground floor to drive the bolter. A sixth nut on the south-west is for the pair of stones on the spout floor; the shaft has a universal joint in it just above floor level, incorporating the quant and mace(2). The auxiliary drive nuts are of large iron mortice type like the stone nuts. On the east, between the stones on that side and the window, is another vertical shaft carrying a large flanged iron belt drum below which are two gear rings, the upper being bevelled and meshing with a pinion on an iron layshaft on which is mounted a four-armed iron pulley which serves no apparent purpose. The layshaft drives a grain elevator, going down to the ground floor, which is partly boarded over, the boarding concealing from view the final stage of the drive which must be via a nut on the end of the shaft. James Waterfield believes the mechanism (which is not quite complete) was off a now vanished pulley on the upright shaft below the great spur wheel, a belt going to the drum on the vertical spindle. When the then owner, John Pocklington, reconditioned the mill in 1892 he used a certain amount of second-hand machinery some of which incorporated items that were not needed at their new home, but allowed to remain, explaining the superfluous pulley mentioned above. 

 On the northwest side is a diagonal timber, going from a ceiling joist to the wall, which has a bearing in it for a now vanished horizontal shaft.

 The upright shaft terminates in the floor where a boxlike wooden structure protects the bearing.

SPOUT FLOOR

There are windows on all four sides. The stairwell and ladder to the stone floor are on the southeast side; on the southwest is a bin. There are an additional pair of stones on the south driven from the stone floor (see above).

 The bridgetrees are of iron. Those for the eastern and western stones run north-south, that for the southern east-west. The lag governor, which controls all three pairs of stones, is mounted in a wooden frame and driven by spur gearing from the base of the upright shaft(3) in what is called a “knuckle joint”, the drive being covered within a protective wooden shoe. From the short first stage of the steelyard, behind the governor, an iron bar curves up in a crescent shape to the spindle above the governor, at which point are three controls from which the third stages go to the western, southern and eastern bridgetrees in a radial arrangement.

 On the north side is the vertical iron shaft from the fifth nut off the great spur wheel, which drives the bolter. On it not far beneath the ceiling is a solid wood pulley from which a belt goes to a corresponding, eight-spoked iron pulley on another vertical shaft to the northwest; from this shaft is driven the mixer, located like the bolter on the ground floor.

GROUND FLOOR  

The main entrance door to the mill on the east side and the single window on the west. The bolter is located on the west side, suspended from the ceiling. On the north side is the vertical shaft off the great spur wheel from which a belt goes to a pulley on the spindle of the machine. Above the belt drum on the vertical shaft is a bevelled iron nut meshing with another on a short iron layshaft whose bearings are mounted on brackets bolted to two short horizontal beams fixed to the main ceiling timbers at right angles to them. The layshaft carries a flanged disc whose purpose, like that of other odd items one encounters in this mill, is difficult to fathom; again, some of this equipment is probably a superfluous leftover from its original home. The final drive to the bolter was originally by gearing rather than belt, this being altered in 2000; the bolter itself was installed by millwright Neil Medcalf in that year, replacing one which had been removed in the 1950s.   

 Tentering gear is provided on this floor for the extra pair of stones on the one above. An iron bridgetree and brayer run east-west and north-south respectively, with provision only for hand tentering; there is no apparent link to the governor on the spout floor, though Dolman indicates there was one.

 There was once a set of stones on this floor too, driven by an oil engine;these were removed in the mid-twentieth century(4). On the southeast side is a cattle feed mixer suspended from the ceiling; this is a “modern” addition dating from the 1930s. A pair of grey stones on a late nineteenth-century hurst frame and driven by a Ruston Hornsby oil engine was installed by the Windmill Trust in 2017.

Some changes appear to have been made to the mill’s internal arrangements since Peter Dolman’s surveys in 1971, 1983 and 1985. He writes: “On the third floor are two grain cleaners, one a fairly modern Boby driven by electric motor and the other an old separator by Penney & Co., driven by wind…there is a mixer on the first floor…an unusual machine is preserved on the first floor: “Felton’s Patent American Grist Mill”, made by Riches and Watts of Norwich around the turn of the century. This was tried out but was not a success and so was abandoned.” Dolman adds that line shafting formerly took the wind drive into an adjoining building, which still stands, to drive circular and frame saws, but all this equipment had gone. With its large sail area the mill was able to drive all five pairs of stones at the same time, even in a light breeze.(5)  

(1)  P Dolman, Lincolnshire Windmills, Lincolnshire County Council 

     1986

(2)  Ibid

(3)  RW 5/9/1928, in HESS

(4)  Rex Wailes 5th September 1928, in HESS; J Bailey 8/4/2021

(5)  Dolman, as above 

With acknowledgements to Jim Bailey of the Heckington Windmill Trust, who checked the entry.

HEMINGBY

Tower mill, stump remains

TF241741

The tarred brick tower had four storeys, having been heightened from three. On an internal timber was the date 1825. The sails, which were very wide, were fitted to the cross by the “pan” method; there were one pair of double- and one of single-sided patents, and the shutters were of canvas over wood and wire frames. The brakewheel, mounted on an iron windshaft, was a wooden clasp-arm with iron teeth bolted on in segments, as was the great spur wheel. The wallower was iron mortice with a wooden friction ring underneath for the sack hoist. The upright shaft was wood. There were three pairs of stones, one of 4 ft 6in greys and two of 4 ft French.(1)

(1) HESS

HEMSWELL, “Roving Molly”

Post mill, gone

Built in 1815, it had a roundhouse of tarred brick with a boarded and felted roof. The windshaft, brake- and tail wheels were wooden and of clasp-arm type, the brakewheel (which bore the date of the mill’s construction) having cants ornamentally cut. The stones in the breast were underdriven through spur gearing. The wallower was iron, the upright shaft (12” diameter) and great spur wheel wood. The governors were driven by belt from the base of the upright shaft, the weights sliding on horns as at Hykeham Moor and Laughterton.(1)

(1) RW 1951

HIBALDSTOW, Reeson’s Mill, tower mill (combined wind- and watermill)

SE982028

Dolman 1986: One of only a handful of such mills, this combines water and wind power in one building. It was built in 1802 near the site of a former post mill. In 1803 it is described as having an “iron axle”, i.e. windshaft, and at this time it had four common sails. By 1828 two “regulating” sails had been fitted and four pairs of stones were driven, three French and one grey. In 1837 the windmill was modernised, gaining another storey of brickwork and iron gearing together with patent sails, which were removed in 1913. The waterwheel was removed in 1912 when the mill was converted to engine drive, the windmill being abandoned. The cap was taken off, leaving the windshaft and cross resting across the curb. It was eventually taken down in the early 1960s. Milling continued until the mid-1960s when the owners retired. It now stands disused and is in need of some attention, particularly to the tower.

 The mill is built on a circular plan,  the tower being supported on piers at ground and first floor levels. The outer wall of the watermill is concentric with the tower, except for a flattened portion where the wheel fitted alongside. At first floor level the eight radial dividing walls have vaulted ceilings to support the stage for the windmill above. The windmill tower continues above in stonework for four floors with a brick top floor and attractively corbelled curb. The entrance steps to the watermill consist of a 4ft cullen or blue stone cut in half. The ground floor was once the spout floor of the watermill and would have contained the driving gears, although how these were arranged cannot now be established accurately. The engine drive enters at this level from an adjacent shed, where latterly an oil engine was installed. This has been removed for restoration by an engine enthusiast. The stairs are unusually ornate and have handrails with balusters. The floor space, like that of the first floor, is rather cluttered because of the radial walls, which produce rather odd-shaped chambers. The first floor was originally the stone floor of the watermill and now contains one pair of grey stones which were overdriven by belt, together with a Bamford combined roller and plate mill. The radial vaulted chambers on this floor were used for various purposes, one containing an old treadle lathe and another the miller’s office with a desk. Some were used as living accommodation and one still has a fireplace, the chimney of which emerges above the stage.  The second floor is the first in the tower proper and served both as the watermill bin floor and the windmill spout floor. It now contains a pair of grey stones, underdriven by belt. The third floor was the windmill stone floor and had two pairs of stones, now removed. These were overdriven in the usual manner, the quants and mortice nuts remaining, though not in position. The bridgetree supporting the wooden upright shaft is made from the post mill’s crowntree. The great spur wheel is of iron and replaces an earlier wooden wheel. Access above the stone floor is difficult but much of the gear survives. There is an iron wallower and a later sack hoist, made from parts of an old wire machine. The sixth floor, which was the dust floor, has a concrete deck on it which has fortunately kept the mill dry for the last 60 years or more.

HOGSTHORPE High Mill

Tower mill, stump remains

TF533724

The five-storey tower was tarred, with the usual ogee cap, the latter having six centring wheels. The mill is said to have been heightened twice but there is no evidence of this. The sails had canvas shutters and were mounted on a square iron windshaft. The wallower was iron mortice with the usual friction ring underneath for the sack hoist, which had an iron bollard. The wooden upright shaft was 12” square. The great spur wheel was all-iron and 7ft diameter. The second and third floors down contained bins, and on the fourth were three pairs of 4ft peak stones one of which was latterly worked by a Tangye oil engine. A secondary upright shaft drove an unidentified machine, latterly removed, through a bevel gear and iron mortice nut. A single pair of governors was driven off the upright shaft.(1)

(1) HESS

HOLBEACH, Damgate Mill

Tower mill, gone

TF364240

The tower was of red brick and the top storey bore an 1867 date tablet, commemorating when the mill was raised from three floors to five.(1) Over the door but not easily visible was an iron tablet with the inscription ES 1816, referring to one Edward Sharman and the date when the mill was originally built. There were two fireplaces. There was a vertical handrail to the fan frame, a feature common in the King’s Lynn area of Norfolk. The drive to the curb was transmitted through two pairs of bevel gears.(2) The rack was on top with the teeth on the side inside, and there were seven centring wheels, three at each side and one at the tail. The wooden windshaft was 17” square rounded to 12” at the tail(3), with a flint neck bearing(4). The brakewheel, with 142 teeth(5) was an all-wood clasp-arm 8ft in diameter on a 2ft centre; all the angles of the arms were strengthened with iron T-brackets. The brake was iron, as was the 4ft diameter wallower which had a wood friction ring for the sack hoist. The latter, located on the northeast side, consisted of a 20” wood drum on a 5” bollard, mounted in a frame and operated by a lever. The wooden upright shaft was 14” square on the upper floors and 13” round on the stone floor.(6) There was a nicely moulded stop chamfer beneath the great spur wheel, as at several other mills(7). The second and third floors down contained large bins taking up most of the space and entered by doors, with a long, straight and steep staircase outside them. The heavily constructed great spur wheel was a 9ft wood clasp-arm on a 2ft 3” centre and with iron teeth. There were three pairs of stones, in round tuns with wood horses and hoppers, placed two pairs on the east side of the upright shaft and one west. They were overdriven by 22in by 10in deep wood nuts on 3” chamfered quants.(8) A crane was provided for raising the runner stones for dressing(9). Two pairs of governors remained when Simmons inspected the mill; one was on a wooden bracket extending from the wall, the other on a curved iron suspended bridge(10). Those for the burr stones appear to have been driven by bevel gearing from the base of the upright shaft(11). On the south side was the engine drive in the form of a fourth, iron mortice nut on a 3” diameter auxiliary upright shaft and further bevel gear. Mounted nine inches below the nut was a 2ft 6in by 5in iron flywheel and this appears to have driven the peak stones, which were 5ft in diameter(12) by belt(13). Latterly the base of the mill was virtually enclosed within a shed which housed the engine and formed the granary(14).

(1)  HESS 10th September 1946

(2)  RW 1953

(3)  HESS

(4)  RW 1953

(5)  Ibid

(6)  HESS

(7)  RW 1956

(8)  HESS

(9)  HRH in HESS

(10) HESS

(11) HRH in HESS

(12) RW 1953

(13) HESS, HRH in HESS

(14) HESS  

HOLBEACH Holbeach Fen

Tower mill

The four-storey tower had four iron bands around it because it was erected on the site of a post mill and settled unevenly, causing cracks in the brickwork. It eventually became unsafe.(1)

(1) HESS

HOLBEACH, Penny Hill mill

Tower mill, standing today (tower only)

TF358267

The tarred tower is 20 feet in diameter internally at ground level and 11ft 6in at the curb. It stands to a total height of approximately 65ft. It originally had four storeys but was later raised to five (Hawksley says to seven from six), the added portion being cylindrical.(1) It had a dead curb with the rack on top outside(2). There were six canvas-shuttered patent sails. The iron windshaft was 10” diameter at the neck journal. It was octagonal behind the neck, square at the brakewheel and then tapering to the tail journal. The brakewheel was on an iron centre with six iron arms to the front of which was fixed the wooden rim. It had 86 teeth of 3¼” pitch, 6” face and 2” deep.(3) The wallower was of iron, with 44 teeth, the upright shaft wooden, and the great spur wheel also wood (Hawksley says iron) with 98 teeth 3¾” pitch, 5 and a half inch face and 1¾” deep. The stone nuts were iron; two had twenty and the third twenty-one teeth. There were three pairs of overdriven stones on the second floor, and the single governor was driven by belt from the base of the upright shaft.(4) Tentering was by iron levers(5). There was a mixer on the first floor(6) and a machine, described by Hawksley as “a horizontal drum of metal sheeting with holes”, for cleaning wheat maize which was driven via a countershaft from a belt drum on the spindle of one of the burr stones(7).

 The six sails were eventually taken off, in c1936, due to the strain they placed on the upright shaft, which had developed a bad twist. Shortly before it had been plated with 2” pitch pine planking and strengthened with several iron bands.

(1) HESS

(2) RW in HESS

(3) HESS

(4) RW in HESS

(5) HRH in HESS

(6) Ibid

(7) HRH and RW in HESS

(8) RW in HESS

HORNCASTLE, Spilsby Road

Tower mill, standing today

TF266696

The brick tower had six storeys and stood approximately 80ft high. The sails were each 32ft long with canvas shutters. The brakewheel and wallower are said to have been of “the usual north-east Lincolnshire type”, and the windshaft was of iron. There were four pairs of 4ft 4” stones on the fifth floor down, driven from an 8ft all-iron great spur wheel with eight arms of inverted “T” pattern and the teeth cast on separately. The stone nuts were iron mortice and the round upright shaft was 5” diameter. A fifth pair of stones was driven from a pair of additional spur gears: both were 2ft 6” in diameter and one was all-iron. The second spur gear had only two teeth. On the ground floor a five-sack Coombe and Co. dresser was slung under the ceiling and driven by a bevel gear off a further, 3ft diameter spur with wood teeth. A pair of governors was located on this floor.(1)

(1) HESS

HUMBY

Tower mill

The tower was built of dressed stone blocks(1).

(1) HESS

HUTTOFT

Tower mill, standing today (tower only)

TF514767

The six-storey tower was of red brick with an ornamental wrought iron gallery, very fine, on brackets around the third floor. Over the door is a tablet inscribed “T Willson, E Wheatcroft, Engineer, 1872”. The name E King is scratched on a brick below; he was in all probability the bricklayer who built the tower. The curb was raised on shallow wooden blocks. The rack was on the inside and there were eighteen centring wheels. The letters JT were to be seen painted on the inside of the cap, where there were also several pencilled inscriptions one of which was “This mill was painted and repaired, sails repaired and stage repaired August and September 1907”. The fantail was eight-bladed and the sails had canvas shutters. The iron windshaft was 9” square tapering to 7”. The 8ft brakewheel, also of iron and cast in two halves, had eight segments of four 3” pitch teeth each which were bolted to the ends of the T-section arms to form the rim. The wheel was placed well back on the windshaft and the 4ft diameter wallower was correspondingly low down. The brake is iron. The sack hoist drive was by a 2ft 6in iron wheel friction driven from a wooden ring in the usual position under the wallower. The sack chain passed over a small wooden “Y” wheel against the wall.

 The second and third floors down were bin floors. The fourth floor was the stone floor: here were two pairs of 4ft 4in stones, one French and one grey, one pair of 4ft greys and one of 3ft French. All were driven from an 8ft all-iron great spur wheel with “T” section arms through iron mortice stone nuts. On the ground floor a pair of governors were driven from a 2ft 6in wood drum on the upright shaft. Also on this floor was a five-sack dresser used for oats(1) and driven by a 2ft 6in bevel gear with wooden teeth engaging with a further, small iron bevel. There appears to have been a second dresser on the third floor driven by an all-iron spur gear and wood nuts, presumably off the great spur wheel.(2)

(1) RW 1928

(2) Mill photographed and inspected by HESS 21st July 1942

NORTH HYKEHAM

Post mill, gone

SK934663

This mill bore the inscription “Timothy Allgard 1756”, the date probably being that of the mill’s erection. The buck, standing above a brick roundhouse with a tiled roof, was 9ft wide and 11ft long plus a 4ft extension at the rear, from the roof ridge to part of the way down the stone floor, to house a bolter. The clockwise sails, of which one pair of commons remained latterly, were carried in an iron poll end on a wooden windshaft which was 17” square at the brakewheel. The latter was of wood with iron segment teeth of two and a half inch pitch, 5” face and two and a half inches deep. The tail wheel was also wooden with teeth of four and a half inch face and two and a half deep. Both wheels were clasp-arm. Two pairs of French stones, arranged head-and-tail, were driven through wooden stone nuts; the head pair were 4ft 4” in diameter. The governors were driven from extensions of the wooden stone spindles.(1) The weights slid on horns as at Hemswell and Laughterton(2). There were two sack hoists, one for the bolter and wire machine; both were driven by friction wheels from the rim of the tailwheel at the top. The wire machine was on the right hand side of the mill. The bolter was in the tail but driven from the brakewheel through a face gear meshing with extensions cast on the outside of the iron segment teeth(3), an inclined wooden shaft, a pair of spur gears at right angles to the latter and finally a second pair of spur gears. The shaft was accommodated within an excrescence on the side of the mill body. At least two other Lincolnshire post mills, at Bennington and Lincoln (Hobblers Hole), had this feature.(4)

(1) RW 1928

(2) RW 1951

(3) Ibid

(4) RW, Grimsby Library 5th September 1928

KEXBY, Britannia Mill

Tower mill, gone

SK871860

The tower had six floors with a high ground floor and an iron stage around the second. All the ironwork was painted red. There was a door in the front of the cap. There was no fanstage. The rocking lever was wooden. The brakewheel had an iron hub, six wooden arms and an iron cog ring.(1) The brake and brake lever were both iron and there was a guard above the brake as at Coleby Heath and West Butterwick(2). The windshaft, sack hoist, wallower and great spur were all iron, the upright shaft iron and wood(3). there were four pairs of 4ft 6”(4) stones, two peaks and one burr on the stone floor, with a perforated metal plate over the shoes and tentering in the form of a single iron bar for each stone, and a third pair of peaks on the ground floor driven by a belt from a secondary upright shaft. Below the great spur wheel was a pulley from which a flour machine was driven by a belt passing over a roller. There was an independent friction drive off the wallower, in the form of a wooden wheel on an iron shaft, for an elevator on the fourth floor. Latterly this was electrically operated, along with the hammer mill which had been installed on the ground floor. The ladder from the third to the fourth floor was inside a bin. There was no fixed ladder from the fourth to the dust floor.(5)

(1) HRH in HESS

(2) RW 1953

(3) HRH in HESS

(4) HESS

(5) HRH in HESS

SOUTH KILLINGHOLME, Wiseman’s Mill

Post mill, gone

TA152153

This mill bore the date 1716. The tarred brick roundhouse was added later and the crosstrees, which rested on 2ft high piers, protruded through the walls. There was a curb on top of them covered by a wide petticoat attached to the bottom of the mill body. The breast of the mill was flat and cross-braced on the outside by two full-length diagonal timbers. The four patent sails had canvas shutters and were carried by a wooden windshaft with wood clasp-arm brake- and tailwheels both of which had 2” pitch iron segment teeth bolted on. The brakewheel was 7ft in diameter, the tailwheel 6ft. Two pairs of 4ft stones were arranged head-and-tail. On the spout floor were a wire machine and a sifter.(1)

(1) RW 1929, 1951

EAST KIRKBY

Tower mill, standing today

TF333623

Standing 75 feet high, exclusive of the ball finial on top of the cap, and with seven floors, this was considered by Rex Wailes to be the finest windmill tower in Lincolnshire from the point of view of construction. The threshholds and stills were all of stone and there was stone capping to the brickwork below the curb. The tower was of red brick with an internal diameter of 12 feet at the curb and 24 at ground level. The fantail and associated gearing were of the usual Lincolnshire type. There were five broad single-shuttered patent sails with eight bays each.

 The windshaft was of iron, along with the wallower, sack hoist(1) and brake. The all-wood brakewheel, having arms 19” deep with curved and stepped cants, was hung on four horns projecting from two flanges keyed onto the shaft. The upright shaft was wood and iron, the iron portion being four and a half inches square at the great spur wheel and the pine portion, which had chamfered corners, 12” square at the wallower. The shaft had three intermediate bearings. The great spur wheel had an iron centre in two halves, eight radial wooden arms and a segmented iron rim with 118 iron segment teeth. The latter were 2 and 5/8 of an inch pitch and 5¾ in face. The stone nuts were iron mortice with 22 teeth each. There were four pairs of overdriven stones on the third floor, two peak and two French. All were controlled by a single large governor, driven by spur gearing from the base of the upright shaft, with crescent-shaped arms and pear-shaped balls. There was a wooden stone crane.(2) The dust floor was high(3).

(1) HESS

(2) RW in HESS

(3) HRH in HESS

(Also RW 1928, 1956) 

KIRKBY GREEN

Post mill, gone

TF094578

The date 1830 was carved on a crosstree. The brick roundhouse was tarred with tapering walls. There was a separate petticoat attached to the bottom of the buck. The bearing of the post had pins inserted in it 7” diameter and 7” high. Four single-shuttered patent sails were carried on an iron cross, weighing 1½ tons, on a wooden windshaft which had been split in half and bolted up with a one-inch packing piece between the halves. The brake- and tail wheels were of clasp-arm type and the former at any rate had wooden cogs.(1)

(1) RW 1951

KIRTON END, Reeson’s Mill

Tower mill, standing today (tower only)

TF289402

There were eight centring wheels, two at the head, one each side and three at the tail. The rack was on the side inside. The windshaft was iron and round, tapering from 9” to 7” with a casting for the brakewheel keyed on. The brakewheel and the wallower were both wood clasp-arms, from which latterly the rims, to which were bolted iron cog rings(1), had been removed. The brakewheel was 8ft diameter, the wallower 7ft. The brake was wooden. Above third floor level (going down) the upright shaft was of wood, 13½” square, and was strengthened by 3” by 10½” timbers on all four sides on the second floor down to just below the ceiling. Below the third floor the shaft was iron; where the two sections met was an iron casting 1ft 4½” square by 1ft 7” deep. The second and third floors were meal chambers and the third also contained a dresser. On the fourth, stone floor the base of the upright shaft was supported by a raised 1ft 3” by 9” deep timber on the floor. The lower iron portion of the shaft was 5” round at the joint with the wooden section, and then tapered to three and a half inches octagonal at the brass {lower bearing}. There were three pairs of overdriven stones, two peaks and one burr(2) in circular casings, located on the east, west and south sides. The eastern and western stones had wood hoppers. The east stone measured 4ft 2” diameter, the others 4ft 6”. The governors for the east and south sides were mounted on brackets alongside the stone spindle extensions, from which they were driven in the usual fashion. The western stones (which were peaks) were latterly engine-driven via an external pulley and then a pair of gears in the form of a small iron mortice pulley and a 2ft 6” horizontal all-iron one. A further pulley on the 3” layshaft drove the dresser.(3) According to R Hawksley there was also a belt from this mechanism to an elevator. He states that the dresser had vertical and horizontal worm screw feeds. One spout ran right through the third floor.

(1) HESS, HRH in HESS

(2) HRH in HESS

(3) HESS

(HESS’ visit was 12th September 1946, Hawksley’s in 1948)