Polegate Windmill

Ovenden's Mill was built in 1817 and was working by wind until 1943. 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. Further restoration work was undertaken in 2004, including the fitting of a cowl to the adjoining malthouse. Two new…

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. The tower is 45 ft high to the curb.