National Mills Weekend
May 13, 2016
National Mills Weekend is the annual festival of British milling heritage. This year it’s on 14 and 15 May and it’s a fantastic opportunity to visit mills, many of which are not usually open to the public. Until the invention of the steam engine, wind and water were the only source of power and have been used for hundreds of years in Britain for the production of flour, paper and cloth.
Winchester City Mill was built in 1744, with the waterwheel and demonstration machinery restored in 2004. The Mill is now owned by the National Trust and produces flour, with milling and baking demonstrations at weekends.
Since we opened a South Downs National Park Gateway
exhibition at the Mill the National Trust have reported that membership conversion has increased by 79%. Winchester City Mill may be the only urban UK location where otters are regularly spotted. They are quite used to humans so may pop up for a quick hello!
Were these windmills, perched above the village of Clayton,
named after the nursery rhyme? Sitting atop a hill seven miles north of Brighton they look out over the Sussex Weald. Jill is a 19th century traditional corn windmill and has been fully restored by Jack and Jill Windmill Society Volunteers, who have met at the Mill almost every Saturday since 1979. Jill is open this weekend both Saturday and Sunday from 11am-5pm.
Halnaker Hill, home to a Neolithic earthwork structure, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. You will also find a WW2 observation post and Grade 2-listed Halnaker windmill.
The windmill is currently closed while it undergoes maintenance but it’s still very photogenic and views from the walk up to it make it worth a visit.
The Pevensey Windpump at the Weald and Downland Museum was built in the mid-19th century in Westham, Sussex. A windpump is a type of windmill used for pumping water.
It was re-erected at the Museum in 1975 and is a rare survivor from a time when wooden windpumps would have been a common fixture in the South Downs.