Upminster Windmill receives Heritage Lottery Funding

Following our visit to Upminster in April, the Essex Society for Archaeology and History is pleased to hear that the Upminster Windmill Preservation Trust has been successful in its Heritage Lottery Fund application.  The following is a press release sent to us by Paul Sainsbury.

Historic Mill’s future secured thanks to a £1.4 million grant.

One of London’s handful of surviving windmills is to be saved, thanks to a grant of £1.4 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

The Upminster windmill was built in 1803 and remained in use as a family- owned business grinding corn until the 1930’s. The Grade ll* listed mill is only one of six surviving with sails in Greater London, and is one of the most complete examples of a smock mill remaining in the country. The name refers to the sloping sides of the structure that gives the building the appearance of a countryman’s smock.

The building is currently on English Heritage’s At Risk register and the HLF grant will enable Havering Council, which owns the site, working with Upminster Windmill Preservation Trust to restore the mill and bring the milling machinery back to full working order.

Although situated in the midst of a built-up area the five storey octagonal mill still sits in a one hectare open field setting. Archaeological research has identified 14 ancillary buildings that were associated with the mill during its more than 130 years of active life. As such, it gives a clear indication of the area’s industrial heritage during the Georgian and Victorian eras.

The restoration project will also create an education and training centre in a separate building that will allow public access for the first time to a wide range of historical documents. The centre will be able to host school visits, public workshops and training sessions in traditional skills associated with milling. CCTV installed in the mill will permit visitors who cannot access the upper floors of the structure to view the restored machinery in action.

Volunteer researchers will record residents’ memories about local history and the project will create two apprenticeships in tourism and visitor attraction skills.

Landscaping work will also be carried out around the mill.

At present the mill is only able to open at limited times for guided tours about 30 days a year. Once the work is complete and the education and training centre is open visitor days are expected to increase fourfold.

Sue Bowers, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund London, said: “This is a rare surviving example of a building that was at the heart of the local community from the early 1800s, a site of local industry providing employment and helping to feed the village of which it was a part. This project will create a working example from this bygone era while creating present day job and volunteering opportunities”.

Councillor Melvin Wallace, Cabinet Member for Culture and Community Engagement, said: “Upminster Windmill is one of the most significant heritage sites in the borough, and this funding will go a long way, not only to restoring it to its former glory, but also making it an invaluable educational hub. Thanks to the HLF, Upminster Windmill Preservation Trust, the Veolia North Thames Trust and the Architectural Heritage Fund, the mill will remain the jewel in the crown of Upminster for many years to come”.

Dennis Coombs, chairman of Upminster Windmill Preservation Trust, said: “We’re really grateful to the HLF for making this award. Volunteers have been opening the mill to the public for almost half a century now, during which the fabric of the mill has continued to decay. This will now be reversed and we will see the mill working again. I’m also extremely thankful to the team of volunteers, whose dedication and skills have made the restoration project possible”.