British Listed Buildings

Listing Text

HOVE

TQ20NE HOLMES AVENUE, West Blatchington
579-1/3/179 West Blatchington Windmill
24/03/50
(Formerly Listed as:
HOLMES AVENUE
West Blatchington Mill and Barns)

GV II*

Former windmill for milling corn with adjoining barn, now
restored as museum. c1820, restored 1937, 1966 and 1970s,
opened to the public 1976. Weather-boarded body and cap, base
and barn made of pebble and knapped flint with brick quoins
and dressings, half-hipped slate roof to barn. Plan: hexagonal
smock mill with fantail and 4 sails, or sweeps; barn abutting
south side and truncated remains of another abutting to east.
The 3 lower floors of the mill have circular window openings
and a round-headed blocked doorway on the north front.
Entrance on the south front via segmental-headed opening in
the barn. The sails are permenantly locked on the south side.
Interior: not seen. Said to contain original machinery
including an auxiliary iron bevel drive for the thresher on
the loading floor; an interesting A-frame support for the spur
wheel and main upright on the spout floor, which is an
authenticated re-use of ships timbers; and radial beam
construction supporting the dust floor visible from the bin
floor.
Milling ceased around 1900, the fantail was removed in 1934,
and barns to the south-west were destroyed by fire in 1936,
although the mill was undamaged. It was purchased by Hove
Corporation and opened to the public by The Friends of West
Blatchington Windmill. The mill was painted by Constable in
1825; reproduction of this watercolour and old photographs of
the mill and barns are on view inside the building.


Listing NGR: TQ2785706794

Source: English Heritage

Listed building text is © Crown Copyright. Reproduced under licence: PSI Click-use licence number C2008002006.