Monument record MDR5886 - Post mill (site of), Alfreton Road, South Normanton

Skeleton of an open trestle post-mill at South Normanton. The earliest known record at present of a windmill in South Normanton is in 1600, with another in 1794. A mill appears on a map of 1699 in the middle of Normanton Moor. The post mill at SK 436561 was derelict by 1950, though in good condition in a private garden. (1, 2) Most post mill bodies were painted white, with the breast beam corbelled out, no porch, and with shutters rather than glazed windows. The ladder at South Normanton Mill is pivoted off-centre to the mill. Thepiers supporting the cross trees can vary considerably in size, that at South Normanton being 3ft 7ins by 2ft 10ins. A round iron flange is bolted to the underside of the crown tree and surrounds the post. The windshaft has an 8in diameter at theneck and a 20in diameter at the brake wheel. The tail pin of the shaft sockets directly into the tail beam. There are 56 wooden cogs of 5in pitch and 4in face in the brake wheel (Plate XXV, (d). There are two pairs of overdrift stones in the first floor on a hurst in the breast. Both bed stones have leather grease wedges. There is a pair each of centrifugal governors and lag governors. (3) The heavy timber framework of the post mill is still standing [in 1969] but is closely surrounded by new houses. The earliest date recorded is 1794, but it is shown on Burdett's map of 1767. This may be the mill mentioned in 1699. (5) In 1980 it was to be removed and stored, following listed building consent to demolish with the condition that it was offered to anyone who wanted it. No-one seems to have wanted it and its final fate is not known at present. (7) South Normanton post mill was probably built c.1805, and owned throughout its life by the local Wass family. Thomas Wass was miller in 1803, followed by John and Ralph, and then another Thomas Wass who died in 1908 and after that the mill fell into disuse. A local inhabitant, Mr Norman Ludlam, found a large stone, dated 1776, between the piers, which had possibly come from an earlier mill. It was a classic open trestle post mill and stood on stone piers which were about 3 feet high. Paintings in 1931 and 1939, and a photograph in 1946, illustrate the rapid deterioration of the mill. Listed Grade II in 1975, but dismantled in 1980 and put into open storage, where it deteriorated even further. By 1997 the timbers were rotten and most were then burnt. (8) [Authority 8 gives an incorrect grid reference for this mill]