Ockley windmill viewed on Heritage Open Days

For many years the only remains of the windmill at Ockley were the brick base, which had done duty as a poultry house. However, over the past few years a new windmill has arisen from that base, to grace the landscape of the village. The villagers and anyone else got a chance to view the new build as part of Heritage Open Days this past weekend.

Whilst definately built as a house, the construction is true to the ideals of the original windmill - the owner Peter James (who gained much of his practical windmill experience at Lowfield Heath windmill) has extensively researched the historic mill to come up with an accurate design. He was fortunate that Bob Morse produced some accurate drawings of the remains of the mill in the 1940's, and has employed millwrights to construct the smock frame. Vincent Pargeter was able to provide an original windshaft from South Ockenden, and has designed the new cap with the attention to detail only an experienced working millwright would have come up with.

Peter has been documenting his build over the years, and that site's been recently updated to include the ongoing interior works.