Monument record MDR10063 - Windmill (site of), Peasehill, Ripley

Pease Hill Mill at Ripley stood about half a mile to the south-east of the town centre. It is not included on Burdett's map of 1767 but is listed by Farey in 1808. It appears on Greenwood's map in 1825 and on most subsequent maps until it is recorded as 'disused' on the Ordnance Survey map of 1914. It worked in conjunction with an adjacent steam mill under common ownership. The death of Thomas Steeples, the miller, in 1892, brought to an end almost one hundred years of family operation and the mill was then advertised as follows: "To Let, through death, Tower mill with patent sails, small steam mill, dwelling house and warehouse. Business established over a century. Address the Executors of the late T. Steeples, Pease Hill Corn Mills, Ripley". A winter photograph of the mill was taken in about 1910, probably soon after it stopped working. This shows it to be a tall slim tower mill essentially made from stone block, which appears at some stage to have had a floor added to increase the height. This was achieved by the addition of a parallel-sided portion to the tower. The domed cap had a ball finial and the fantail appears to have lost many of its blades. The four patent sails turned in an anti-clockwise direction. The mill was demolished in the 1920s and the site is now built over. (1)