Site record MDR8133 - Windmill (site of), Spinkhill

A windmill is depicted at Spinkhill on a map of 1769 that was drawn to show the proposed route of the Chesterfield Canal. It was probably on the same site as a windmill marked on Parliamentary Enclosure maps of 1975/6. (1) The windmill at Spinkhill was an early stone tower mill, built before 1767, since it is shown on Burdett's map of that year. It is listed by Farey in 1808 and is present on both Greenwood's map of 1825 and on the first OS map of 1836. No advertisements have been found for this windmill although millers identified were John Widdowson in 1795, William Scorthorn in 1841/51 and, in 1856, Elizabeth Scorthorn, presumably his wife. The mill went out of use, probably in the 1860s, and was one of the earliest known conversions into a house, sometime in 1875-80. The Derbyshire Times for April 14 1939 reported that it had been a house since 1879 and had lost its sails some ten years earlier. It became known as 'The Old Windmill House' and was in use until the mid 1950s, being demolished a few years later. The mill was painted in August 1933. It was portrayed as a stone tower, about two floors high, the top of which had been cut off obliquely at about 45 degrees, with a roof having been fitted to the resultant slope. A tall brick chimney is shown running up the wall and protruding above the highest point of the tower. (2)