Lowfield Heath Windmill

The Lowfield Heath Windmill was originally built at Lowfield Heath (TQ 271 398 ). Its origins are uncertain, a rumour that it was moved from Hookwood in the 1760s is not borne out by the facts. There is no record of a windmill there before 1820. Another rumour is that it was moved from Horsham, Sussex in 1738, but again proof is lacking. The mill was marked on maps dated 1762, 1777, 1789, 1823 and the early Ordnance Survey maps. In 1827 the miller failed to obtain an injunction preventing the enclosure of the common that the mill stood on. The mill was damaged in a storm on 29 November 1835. The mill was last worked by wind in 1880, and was worked until at least 1895 by a portable steam…

Lowfield Heath Windmill is a post mill with a single storey roundhouse. Winding is by tailpole. It originally had four Common sails, and was last worked with four Patent sails carried on a cast iron Windshaft. The mill drives two pairs of millstones arranged Head and Tail. The Head Wheel is 9 ft diameter with 111 cogs and the Tail Wheel is 8 ft diameter with 100 cogs. The body of the mill is 20 ft by 11 ft in plan. The mill now carries one pair of Patent sails and one pair of Common sails.