Sunday, August 17, 2014

St Leonard's Mill, Winchelsea

Jon followed the directions and soon found that the town finished as abruptly to the north as it did to the south, although on this side the slope of the hill was more gradual. He went through a gate into an elm-fringed field, climbed a stile and found himself looking over flat country which stretched away into the blue distance of the Sussex Weald.
The field before him fell away sharply in one place, and at the topmost ridge of the hill stood the gaunt, black ruin of a mighty windmill. There were no sales on this mill, and from where he was standing the sky showed through the timbers of the roof. 
Malcolm Saville The Gay Dolphin Adventure (1945)
According to Wikipedia, St Leonard's Mill, Winchelsea, was built on a site nearby in 1760. By 1823 it had been moved to the site of the old St Leonard's church, which stood outside the town walls of Winchelsea.

It remained a working mill until the 1890s, after which it fell derelict and was restored more than once.

St Leonard's Mill blew down in the Great Storm of 1987 - and I fear those elms are long gone too.

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