Windmills of The Isle of Man
Baldromma, Maughold
(#iom5)
NGR:
SC490913small farm mill
- incorporated into house
Small rough windowless tower, attached to single storey barn. Had staging at first storey level,
and used 4 clockwise common sails, but windshaft was apparently not protected by a cap. No sails in 1949.
Baldromma, circa 1909
Baldromma after conversion, 2002
Baldromma mill - painting by J Coleman, c1899
Entries in photo archives:
Ballacorage, Ballaugh
(#iom4)
NGR:
SC348956small farm threshing mill
- house converted as "Windmill Cottage"
Survey in 1967 noted internal diameter of 2.35m at ground level. House conversion between then and 1972, when it featured
in an article "In Praise of Conversion" by Hulme Chadwick in Manx Life 2#1 July/Aug 1972.
Entries in photo archives:
Ballawhane, Andreas
(#iom2)
NGR:
NX398012small stone tower threshing mill
- derelict by 1952, with uneven/ruinous curb, adjacent to 2 storey barn
Entries in photo archives:
Billown Quarry, Malew
(#iom7)
NGR:
SC269702large iron wind pump
Entries in photo archives:
Castletown
(#iom1)
NGR:
SC259677tower
-
House converted - now has a glass roof contained within the tower.
Dating from 1828, this was rebuilt in 1848, and ruined by at least 1874. In the 20th century, the
buildings surrounding the tower were used to house a museum of witchcraft from 1951 - 1960s, then it stood
empty, till redevelopment as a housing development in the late 1990s.
Castletown windmill, Isle of Man, 10th April 2004
Castletown windmill, Isle of Man, 10th April 2004
[history]
[Annotated story of the museum of witchcraft]
Entries in photo archives:
Geograph images are licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike licence
Ramsey
(#iom3)
NGR:
SC445952Lezayre Mill (Now Beaconsfield Towers):
combined corn and saw mill
- smooth rendered tower truncated to two storeys, now incorporated into Beaconsfield Towers residential care homeBuilt 1836, by John Monk. Steam mill erected 1862. In 1930's the tower still had 6 floors,
and a flat roof, but reduced to 2 storeys in the 1960's.
Lezayre Mill, Ramsey, Isle of Man, 13th April 2004
[info]
Entries in photo archives:
South Barrule Slate Quarry Malew
(#iom6)
NGR:
SC270768small stone tower
Entries in photo archives:
Geograph images are licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike licence
Historical locations
Andreas
skeletal mill attached to barn
Recorded in a watercolour painting by J Coleman, one of a series of paintings he did in a sketchbook he titled
"Sketches from Manxland" around 1899. The painting shows a skeletal mill with 4 wooden uprights coming together to produce
the mill tower. The drive from the 4 common sails is transferred via a vertical metal shaft through some form of right angled
gearing, so that it then enters the small single storeyed barn alongside. The painting also shows the tower of Andreas church in the
background, and since there appears to be nothing but open fields between the mill and the church, this would probably indicate
that this was located on one of the farms to the south of Andreas.
Farm mill, Andreas - painting by J Coleman, c1899
Modern wind turbines
Mann Today, Vol 1#1 March 1986 reports that there was once an experimental 100Kw turbine erected
to the west of South Barrule, which was used from 1959 for about 5 years, until
repeated mechanical problems caused it to be taken down
The thrust of the article "Of Windmills, Museums and Music" however, is in discussing an
application by the Manx Electricity Authority to erect 10 turbines, which never took place.
Similarly Manx Life in Aug 1993 reported on another application to construct a windfarm at
Lambfell, Michael, which was not carried through.
One again however, there are tentative plans for a
windfarm near Old Mines.
Links
Map of all The Isle of Man mills
-
Download to Google Earth
| Last updated
29th October 2007 |
Text and images © Mark Berry,
1997-2008 -
Portions © Maureen Hall 2005
J Coleman paintings by permission of Dave Wilson |
