Thatched Windmills 🌍

Stembridge Mill, High Ham

It's an oft repeated statement that the last surviving thatched windmill in England is Stembridge Mill, High Ham, Somerset.

Whilst this is indeed the last surviving windmill with a thatched cap in England, there are a number of other remains of windmills which have a thatched roof on what remains of the tower or roundhouse. These include

Big Mill, Burwell, Cambridgeshire
Darsham, Suffolk
Framlingham, Suffolk
Orsett, Essex

Ireland

Skerries

Not far across the water, there is a tower windmill with a thatched cap in the mills complex at Skerries.

Tacumshane

Europe

There are many examples of thatched windmills in Europe, where they use thatching to cover the smock walls.

Mecklenburger Mill, Germany
Lonneker Mill, Enschede, The Netherlands
Noordermolen, Noorddijk, Groningen, The Netherlands
Kinderdijk, The Netherlands
Zaanse Schans, The Netherlands

Last updated 23/01/2026