Keston Windmill

Keston Windmill
Keston Windmill in 2020
Origin
Grid reference	TQ 415 640
Coordinates	51°21′25″N 0°01′59″E
Operator(s)	Privately owned
Year built	1716
Information
Purpose	Corn milling
Type	Post mill
Storeys	Three storeys
Roundhouse storeys	Single storey
No. of sails	Four
Type of sails	Double Patent sails
Windshaft	cast iron
Winding	Tailpole
No. of pairs of millstones	Two pairs located in the breast

Keston Windmill is a grade I listed^[1] Post mill in Keston, formerly in Kent and now in the London Borough of Bromley. The mill was built in 1716 and is conserved with its machinery intact but not in working order.

History

Keston Windmill was built in 1716. William Ashby, the Westerham millwright fitted new sails and repaired the breast of the mill in December 1836. The mill was working by wind until either 1878^[2][3] or 1900.^[4][5] In 1955, Kent County Council placed a preservation order on the mill.^[5] The mill was built to grind corn into flour. The mill is privately owned and preserved with its machinery intact, but not in working order. It is not generally open to the public.

Description

For a description of the machinery, see Mill machinery.

Keston Mill has a three-storey body on a single-storey roundhouse. The roundhouse enclosed the trestle and the date 1716 is carved on the main post. It had four double Patent sails carried on a cast-iron windshaft. The mill is winded by a tailpole. The wooden brake wheel drives a cast-iron wallower, which drives a cast-iron great spur wheel with wooden cogs. This drives two pairs of underdrift millstones in the breast of the mill. The mill also has a flour dresser (bolter).^[2] The bolter in Keston mill has been used as the model for a reconstructed bolter in Lowfield Heath Windmill, Charlwood, Surrey.^[6]

Millers

• John Ellis 1838
• Thomas Ellis 1845
• Martin J Hoath 1845
• B Hoadley 1862

References for above:-^[2][7]

References

The main post with carved date 1716 at bottom

1. Historic England. "KESTON WINDMILL, HEATHFIELD ROAD, BROMLEY, BROMLEY, GREATER LONDON (1064369)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 June 2008.
2. West, Jenny (1973). The Windmills of Kent. London: Charles Skilton Ltd. pp. 49–52. ISBN 0-284-98534-1.
3. This date may refer to Olive's Mill, Keston
4. Coles Finch, William (1933). Watermills and Windmills. London: C W Daniel Company. p. 229.
5. "Keston Landmark's Future". West Kent Mercury. 3 June 1955. p. 11.
6. "Latest News 19th March 2007 – Bolter progress". Ockley Windmill. Retrieved 17 April 2008.
7. "Directory of Kent Mill People". The Mills Archive Trust. Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2008.

External links

• Windmill World page on the mill.