St Margaret's Bay Windmill

St Margaret's Bay Windmill
St Margaret's Bay Windmill
Origin
Mill location	St Margaret's at Cliffe, Kent
Grid reference	TR 363 436
Coordinates	51°8′31.5″N 1°22′35″E / 51.142083°N 1.37639°E
Year built	1929
Information
Purpose	Electricity generation
Type	Smock mill
Storeys	Three-storey smock
Base storeys	Single-storey base
Smock sides	Eight-sided
No. of sails	Four
Type of sails	Double Patent sails
Windshaft	Cast iron
Winding	Fantail
Fantail blades	Six blades
Other information	Last new build traditional windmill in Kent.

St Margaret's Bay Windmill is a Grade II listed^[1] smock mill on South Foreland, the southeasternmost point of England. It was built in 1929 to generate electricity for the attached house, high on the White Cliffs of Dover.

History

The mill was built for Sir William Bearswell by Holman's, the Canterbury millwrights. It was built to generate electricity and started generating in June 1929.^[2] The mill ceased to generate electricity in 1939, when the dynamo was removed.^[3] During the Second World War, the mill was occupied by a special branch of the WRNS.^[4] Repairs were done to the mill in 1969 by millwrights Vincent Pargeter and Philip Lennard. These included a new fantail and repairs to the sails.^[3]

Description

St Margaret's Bay Windmill is a three-storey smock mill on a single-storey brick base. It has four patent sails and is winded by a fantail.^[2] The mill generated electricity via a dynamo and is now used as residential accommodation, a use it has always had.^[3]