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Polegate Windmill
Polegate Windmill
	The mill in 1997
Origin
Mill name	Ovenden's Mill; Mockett's Mill
Mill location	TQ 582 041
Coordinates	50°48′54″N 0°14′38″E / 50.815°N 0.244°E
Operator(s)	Private
Year built	1817
Information
Purpose	Corn mill
Type	Tower mill
Storeys	Four storeys
No. of sails	Four sails
Type of sails	Patent sails
Windshaft	Cast iron
Winding	Fantail
Fantail blades	Six blades
Auxiliary power	Engine
No. of pairs of millstones	Two pairs, a third pair driven by engine

Ovenden's Mill or Mockett's Mill is a grade II* listed^[1] tower mill at Polegate, East Sussex, England which has been restored but is now in a poor state and the tower is not open to the public. The impressive milling museum is open but only on certain Open Days. If you look at the "Polegate windmill" Facebook page you will find more details. We are arranging these days at the moment but the first one should be National Mills weekend with the mill open on the Sunday.

History

Ovenden's Mill was built in 1817 and was working by wind until 1943.^[2] The mill was worked by auxiliary engine, latterly an electric motor, until 1965. By the time the mill stopped working, it was becoming derelict. Eastbourne and District Preservation Trust bought the mill and grounds, and a restoration was carried out by E Hole and Sons, the Burgess Hill millwrights. One of the new stocks broke in July 1974, bringing the sail with it. This particular stock was only seven years old. Thompson's, the Alford millwrights fitted a replacement stock and two new sails in May 1976.^[3] Further restoration work was undertaken in 2004,^[4] including the fitting of a cowl to the adjoining malthouse.^[5] Two new sails were fitted in 2009.

Description

Ovenden's Mill is a four-storey brick tower mill with a domed cap winded by a fantail. There is a stage at first floor level. It had four Patent sails carried on a cast iron Windshaft. The Brake Wheel is wooden. The mill drove two pairs of overdrift millstones, with a third pair driven underdrift by auxiliary engine.^[3] The tower is 45 feet (13.72 m) high to the curb.^[2]