Monument record MDR10216 - Wind-powered water pump (site of), west of Firestone, Hazelwood

SK 33408 46042. This unusual windmill was located in a field at Hazelwood, close to a public footpath. The site is marked on a 1906 OS map as a wind pump. It was a rather strange smock-mill-like structure, with a wooden tower, apparently covered with small wooden panels, surmounted by a very small cap. A long tail pole stretched down to the ground and there were four sails, each with a leader board (a board fixed to the front edge of the sail to direct the wind onto the cloth or shutters), and with open bays, which might have had shutters at some time. The structure was located in the middle of a field, with a ridged stone building close by. It is, in fact, the only smock type of windmill that has been found in Derbyshire. The mill was built just before the end of the 19th century and had a wooden frame, covered externally with a reddish coloured felt-like material. It drew water from a deep well into a storage tank in the nearby building. The windmill was demolished shortly before the 1939 war, but the building with the tank inside was still standing a few years ago. Nothing has been found about the machinery that was located inside. From the tank, water was then pumped by an engine (nature unknown) up to a nearby large house, probably Hazelwood Hall, which at that time was owned by a Sir John (Commander) Aligne, who lived there with his three sisters. (1)