Via the new book, on the Windmills of Essex by Ian Yearsley, buried in the last 2 page chapter on modern windmills,
I have learnt of the existence of a new post mill, being built at Gestingthorpe.
The book shows a photo of the mill from March 2025, illustrating a small, somewhat primitive post mill, with a unpainted boxy buck with a pitched roof,
on an open trestle standing on low brick built piers, turned to wind by a tailpole, and with a short ladder at the back.
There appears to be a small roofed window at the top, rear of the buck, but no windshaft is showing at the front.
The accompanying text notes that this is being built by millwright Chris Moulton, in collaboration with farm landowner Ashley Cooper,
and the project built using local material is expected to take 6 years in all.
There's a
video from August 2023 showing the main post being erected.
Via the documents in the planning application - Erection of timber agricultural post mill
more details are given:
- The post mill is 3/4 scale, based roughly on Bourn mill, and designed to mill small quantities of grain produced on the farm
- Hill Farm, on which it is sited, has many existing historical features including traditional buildings, a roman museum, and exhibits about farming
- There are 3 Grade II listed buildings; Hill Farm Barn (List UID: 1168123), Hill Farm Outbuilding (List UID:1123077), and Hill Farm Cartlodge (List UID: 1168137)
- Other projects on the farm have included archaeological digs, a pot kiln, and more
- The Suffolk Mills Group have been consulted about siting of the mill, and other aspects of the design
- A reduced scale was chosen to reduce strain on some joints of the structure, and to minimize impact on the surroundings
- Much of the construction timber is coming from woodlands already on the farm, and construction is being done inside existing farm buildings
- The overall finish is of black stained weatherboarding
A newly built windmill at Gestingthorpe