Oldland Windmill dressed overall on 3rd May 2009 to celebrate approximately 100 years since she last ground corn		Oldland Windmill dressed overall in 1887 to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee

www.oldlandwindmill.co.uk

The history of Oldland Windmill

Oldland Windmill is an 18th century post-mill situated in the village of Keymer (approximately 2 miles from Jack and Jill windmills). The earliest known record of this windmill is an Oldland Estate map dated c.1703. The map is drawn on parchment, bordered by a highly decorative cartouche, and clearly shows an 'open trestle' post-mill similar to that standing at Nutley. As technology progressed, a brick roundhouse was later added to provide storage space and has in itself become a unique feature because, unlike other post-mill roundhouses, this one is octagonal. Oldland Windmill was sometimes called 'Ditchling Mill' and is mentioned in the Ditchling Churchwarden's accounts in 1755. It is also documented in the National Defence Schedules of 1801, recording its capacity for milling wheat, barley, oats and animal feed during the Napoleonic Wars. There are several other unique features within the mill including a fine collection of Victorian cast ironwork. Much of the cast iron machinery was installed by the Medhurst family, who were well known millwrights across sussex in the 1800's, and who also worked on Jill Windmill. It is thought to be the only surviving post-mill in Southern England with a steam engine drive within it's body to enable grinding on windless days. Oldland Windmill is currently being restored to full working order by a dedicated team of local volunteers. Most of the oak structure has had to be rebuilt and currently the greater part of the mill body has been re-weather boarded. Work to re-erect and weatherboard the roof is also in progress. (Philip Hicks, June 2002)

RECENT HISTORY April 1976 At the AGM of the Hassocks Amenity Association a talk was given by a member of the Weald and Downland Museum from Singleton. At that meeting the issue was raised of Oldland Windmill and the possibility of saving her. She was owned by the Sussex Archaeological Society (SAS) and the site was leased to Mr.Geoffrey Hawkings-Byass as she was alongside his garden. 1977 Tommy Gee, Herbert Sale, Geoffrey Hawkings-Byass and Frank Gregory met to consider the restoration. Surveys were done by Mr.Vincent Pargeter, millwright, and Frank Gregory and an opinion was given by Edwin Hole, millwright, and a variety of solutions were proposed. The mill was clearly in a very bad state and the first priority was to save her from collapse. One proposal, from the architect Mr. Rowell, was to erect a steel frame inside and just restore the appearance. However, The sub-committee, encouraged by Mr. Pargeter, wanted to restore the mill to full working order. Funds would not be available to have the work contracted out so it was decided that it would be a long term project carried out largely by volunteer labour as and when funds became available. It was felt that it was not sensible to raise funds and spend time working on the mill when HAA neither had a lease or a freehold on the mill. 1979 to 1980 was spent in very protracted negotiations with SAS. Transferring the freehold would raise problems with the Charity Commission and HAA were not ready for that stage. A new 21 year lease at a peppercorn rent was agreed but it was not signed until September 1980. The first working party was 2nd August 1980. The first job was to clear the mill of rubbish and put felt on the roundhouse roof as a temporary repair to prevent further damage to the trestle. 1981 Only two sweeps were left and they were removed. Sailors from HMS Daedalus got the stock down. Started negotiations with SEEB to get an electric supply laid on to Mr. Hawkings- Byass's garage. Electricity poles, given by SEEB, poles delivered to act as supports for mill body and wind-shaft. 1982 Electric supply fitted. 1983 An "A" frame made from the telegraph poles was fitted to support the outer end of the wind shaft. More of the poles were used to make side supports. 1984 It had been decide at an early stage that oak would be used for the restoration as it was the original timber. An oak beam was delivered for the new crown tree as well as oak for the trestle. 1985 More fund raising and preparatory work. 1986 More timber delivered for side girts and two breast beams. 1987 Trestle replaced. Trestle jacked up to replace brick supports. 1988 Crown-tree replaced by Austin Cradles. 1989 Up to now it had been thought that much of the old frame would be useable but further investigation showed that what would be required was a new frame, new roof, new weatherboard cladding and a new roundhouse. 1990 SAS agreeable in principle to HAA having the freehold. Setting out the new side frames. 1991 -1993 Side frames completed, breast frame completed, tail frame completed, flour floor frame completed, all these in shed on site preparatory to erection. During this period there was an enormous amount of time spent in raising money and that, together with a shortage of volunteer labour at times, slowed down the restoration.

Officers of the mill restoration sub committee.

Secretary	1976 - 1980	Tommy Gee
	1980 - 1994	Iris Annett
Site Supervisor	1976 - 1980	Frank Gregory
	1980 - 2000	John Annett
Treasurer	1976 - 2000	Philip Sandwell

Photo of Philip Sandwell

Some of the volunteer labour force during the period 1976- 1994 (with apologies to those who have not been mentioned):-

John Annett	Gavin Maillardet	Iris Annett
Guy Nason	P & C Bolton	Peter Pearce
Mr.& Mrs.Dadswell	Mrs M Pryke	R.Colliver
Herbert Sale	Mrs Goodare	Peter Casebow
Mr.Rowell	Mr.Costa	Mrs Shelton
B & L Ellicker	Mr & Mrs Turner	Miss Field
Mr & Mrs Wellberry	Tommy Gee	Frank Gregory
R.Harbud	Mr.Holden

Photo of John and Iris Annett

Principal Patrons Ventaxia The Woodroffe Benton Foundation Turner Dumbrell Trust Dr.Richard Turner British Telecom Joanna & Hilary Bourne Reg Adsett Herbert Sale Mr.G Hawkings-Byass

Photo of Reg Adsett and Clive Petrides

News Update - April   Hopefully Spring will have sprung by the time you read this and everyone at Oldland Mill is looking forward to the new season ! On the Maintenance and Restoration front, the Dresser Meal Hopper is now installed on the Stone floor and volunteers are working on the Dresser belt drive system. However the most exciting news this month is that we are taking what we hope will be a big step forward in the grinding of wheat at the mill. Although we successfully ground a small quantity in 2008, we are now exploring milling in larger quantities. The greatest challenge to date has been the weather, as we have learnt that not only can the wind be too light, but it can also be too strong or even gusting too much to enable proper control of the milling to be maintained ! It has thus become apparent that we need to know exactly what the wind is doing on site in order to plan for a milling session. To date we have relied upon BBC Weather Forecasts, but the conditions in Keymer can be markedly different to those in Crawley or Brighton, the BBC's two nearest weather stations. We are thus exploring installing an Automatic Weather-monitoring System (AWS) at the mill. So keep a look out for a small wind vane and anemometer mounted on or near the mill. We are currently carrying out tests to identify the optimum position for this instrumentation. This increased accuracy will also enable us to wind the mill (i.e. turn her round manually to face the prevailing wind) more reliably, as in the past we have carried out this task when it turned out to be unnecessary and on a cold, dark, wet and windy night this is not such an attractive chore for the volunteers ! Also on the subject of milling wheat, we are looking for a set of scales, one each of 28lb, 14lb, 7lb, 4lb, 2lb and 1lb. If you are able to help in this respect, or know anyone who can, Fred Maillardet would be very pleased to hear from you. Dates for your diary: Event Days this year will be on Sundays, 5th May, 7th July and 1st September, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. and smaller, Open Afternoons on Sundays 7th April, 2nd June, 4th August and 6th October, 2 - 5 p.m. A free shuttle bus will run from the Thatched Inn on Event Days as there is no parking at the mill. The National Mills weekend is on 11th and 12th May when mills around the country, including Oldland Mill, will be welcoming visitors between 2 - 5 p.m. on both days. As always, refreshments will be available. Further details regarding exhibitors, themes etc. as soon as I have them. Finally, can I repeat the appeal I made in last month's edition ? This year we plan to refurbish the remaining two sweeps and are appealing not only to those of you who kindly volunteered in 2011 when we painted the first two sweeps, but to anyone else who may have time to spare on a week day between 13th May and 14th June when we have scheduled this work. We would love to hear from anyone who can assist. You can join us for as little or as long as you want. No experience of Windmills is necessary; all the work is at ground level and all training and materials will be provided. If you are able to help or want to know more, then please contact us. You will be working with a very dedicated and friendly group of existing volunteers and you may just find that you would like to join them on a more permanent basis ! News Update - March A New Year, a New Appeal ! When we asked for volunteers to help with the refurbishing of two of the sweeps in 2011 we had an excellent response and were able to carry out the work in much less time than was anticipated. This year we plan to refurbish the remaining two sweeps and are appealing not only to those of you who kindly volunteered before, but to anyone else who may have time to spare on a week day between the 13th May and the 14th June when we have scheduled this work. We would love to hear from anyone who can assist. You can join us for as little or as long as you want. No experience of Windmills is necessary; all the work is at ground level and all training and materials will be provided. If you are able to help or want to know more, then please contact us. You will be working with a very dedicated and friendly group of existing volunteers and you may just find that you would like to join them on a more permanent basis ! Maintenance and Restoration: Another small step has been taken on the road to producing flour in quantity ! For this we must thank Jill Mill who kindly let us use their grain cleaner to clean our first major supply of Milling Grain - half a ton ! Oldland Mill is now full of sacks of clean grain! Dates for your diary: You are invited to join us at the Mill on the following dates in 2013 and we very much look forward to seeing you then. Event Days this year will be on Sundays, 5th May, 7th July and 1st September, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. and smaller, Open Afternoons on Sundays 7th April, 2nd June, 4th August and 6th October, 2 - 5 p.m. I will let you know the themes for Event Days as the season progresses but I can tell you now that Ditchling Morris together with Hammersmith Morris have confirmed that they will be performing on 5th May. A free shuttle bus will run from the Thatched Inn on Event Days as there is no parking at the mill. The National Mills weekend is on 11th and 12th May when mills around the country, including Oldland Mill, will be welcoming visitors between 2 - 5 p.m. on both days. As always, refreshments will be available. We could always use more volunteer helpers at our Event Days and Chairman, Fred Maillardet, would welcome calls from anyone who can spare a couple of hours to help set up and take down equipment, welcome visitors, serve refreshments or assist on stalls. The 100 Club is always looking for new members and anyone interested in joining should contact Steve Berry at hassocks-online.co.uk. Alternatively, the form can be downloaded from this website. The greater the membership the larger the monthly prizes! News Update - February Maintenance and restoration work continues on the Dresser and the final feed hopper which goes on top is nearing completion. Work is also progressing on making a better weather seal around the roof of the Roundhouse to prevent rain blowing into the building in very strong winds. We are now beginning to plan trial milling during the coming months, weather permitting, in preparation for producing flour in bulk this Spring. We are still hoping that the weather will be good enough this year to carry out the painting of the sweeps that was held up in 2012, but if January is anything to go by we are being rather optimistic ! Fundraising: Thank you to those of you who supported our very successful stall at 'Light up Hassocks'. We focused on selling our Mill Christmas Cards. However, the latest family of knitted Oldland Mill Mice sold out (as usual) ! Hassocks may soon be overrun with mice !!! Event Days this year will be on Sundays, 5th May, 7th July and 1st September, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. and smaller, Open Afternoons on Sundays 7th April, 2nd June, 4th August and 6th October, 2 - 5 p.m. News Update - January   The Chairman, Trustees and Volunteers of Oldland Mill wish all their supporters a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year Maintenance and restoration continues during the winter months and the dedicated team of weather watch officers will continue to wind the mill to face the prevailing wind and ensure stability. We look forward to a new year with Event Days taking place on Sundays, 5th May, 7th July and 1st September 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. and smaller, Open Afternoons on Sundays 7th April, 2nd June, 4th July and 6th October, 2 - 5 p.m. Volunteers are hoping the weather will be kinder to them this year to allow the painting that was held up last year to go ahead. And hopefully 2013 will be the year when we finally produce good quality flour. As always, visitors are welcome at the mill any time on a Thursday when volunteers will be pleased to show them round the interior of the mill. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL ! News Update - December   Our final event of the year - The Wine Tasting Evening - went well, despite slow ticket sales at first. Fifty four people enjoyed an interesting and informative evening thanks to Chris Paynter's great knowledge of wine, acquired when growing up in New Zealand and working there in the wine trade. He impressed us with his expertise and included a fun quiz as part of the evening's entertainment. Mainly due to the generosity of Budgens, who donated all the wine for the tastings, we were able to show a healthy profit which will go towards the cost of paint when it comes to repainting the two remaining sweeps next summer. The ploughman's supper was enjoyed by all, especially the surprise choc ice at the end. Thanks also to Hassocks Hardware who agreed to sell the tickets for us. Events are now over for the year but volunteers look forward to their annual get-together over a Christmas meal at the Thatched Inn at the end of November. For those of you who already have your 2013 diaries to hand, I can confirm that our main Event Days will be on Sundays 5th May, 7th July and 1st September, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The restoration and maintenance of the mill, however, continues throughout the winter months. I am pleased to report that we were awarded a Food Hygiene Rating of 5, the highest possible, at a recent inspection by MSDC. This is especially applicable to the provision of refreshments at our public Open & Event days. All of our electrical tools and appliances have been PAT tested for another year and the Mill's electrical installation has also been retested and certified. Whilst we did manage to repaint one side of the Mill during the summer, the weather really got the better of us this year and prevented the repainting of the rear of the Mill and roundhouse. The windboards on the sweeps have now been taken down in preparation for the winter weather and the bearings (three per shutter) on all 204 shutters have been re-oiled to keep the sweeps in working order ready (hopefully) for milling. Some of the regular passers-by will have noticed that the weather vane is missing from the top rear of the Mill. It took a herculean effort by our Chairman to take it down as it was all seized up and in dire need of refurbishment. Throughout the year the dedicated team of eight weather watch officers have continued, with the support of other Mill volunteers, to routinely wind the Mill to face the prevailing wind to ensure stability. Restoration of the Dresser continues with the construction of the meal hopper making good progress.   On behalf of the Trustees of Oldland Mill I wish all our supporters a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year. We look forward to seeing you in 2013. 2013 ? It doesn't seem five minutes since we were all looking forward to the Millennium celebrations !! CPF Electrical Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) Sponsorship Oldland Mill Trust is very grateful to CPF Electrical (Hassocks local trader) for agreeing to sponsor the annual Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) that the Mill needs to undertake each year. This testing ensures that electrical items at the Mill are electrically safe for use by the volunteer team involved with the restoration and maintenance of the Mill. The Trust is pleased to report that all items have now been tested by CPF Electrical and have passed. George Rankin

THURSDAY 18TH OCTOBER 2007 WHAT A GREAT DAY ! OUR WINDMILL NOW HAS FOUR NEW SWEEPS AND SHE LOOKS MAGNIFICENT

Photograph by Gordon King

The first flour for about 100 years

FROM THE CHAIRMAN Thanks to twenty-eight years of support by many people, flour has now flowed from Oldland Windmill for the first time in nearly 100 years. Each member of Oldland Mill Trust has been sent a small sachet of the wholemeal flour as a memento of this significant milestone and also as a token of thanks. This is not a time for lessening support, for although restoration to the exterior of the mill is now complete, there remains much to do to bring the interior of the mill up to full working order and maintain what has been restored in good repair. Please tell your friends and neighbours about the progress on the mill and encourage them to add their support to restoring our local heritage. Fred Maillardet

Celebrating our first flour for about 100 years

David Friend took some flour home and used it to bake a fruitcake, which we had for tea together with champagne and sloe gin.

6th December 2009

The Mills Section of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) presented Oldland Mill Trust with a plaque in recognition of the quality of the restoration work carried out on the mill by volunteers over the past twenty-nine years. Left to right : Philip Hicks (Oldland Mill Trust), Jim Woodward-Nutt who made the presentation on behalf of SPAB, Reg Adsett, one of the original mill volunteers and Fred Maillardet, Chairman of Oldland Mill Trust

The brakewheel and brakeshoe are now installed . . .  Please click here for details on making the brakewheel

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