There is no entry fee, but donations towards running costs and restoration are appreciated.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE UNION MILL HOMEPAGE
The Union Mill:
a local landmark, built in 1814 and still working
A Cautionary Tale
With high expectation of profiting from the demand for flour to feed the army and navy engaged in England's defence against Napoleon, Henry Dobell engaged a local millwright, James Humphrey, to build a windmill for him at a cost of £3500. His choice of site was forced upon him, since the other hills around the town already had mills on them, but to give it sufficient height to lift the sails above the turbulence caused by the buildings surrounding the site, the mill had to be built on a high brick base. Doubtless, the extra costs of doing this figured in his calculations! At a total height of 75ft (23m) it is claimed to be the second tallest windmill in England.
His mill was completed in 1814. Alas for Dobell, his hopes of a lucrative return on his considerable investment were dashed after only a year by Wellington's victory at Waterloo, as a result of which much of the army and navy were disbanded, an economic depression was precipitated, and the demand for flour disappeared. Dobell was bankrupted in 1819 and his mill was acquired by a Union of five of his creditors - hence the name "Union Mill" - who worked the mill for 10 years and so recovered the debts owed to them.
An Engineer's Respect
As an Engineer, I have to have respect for the builder's skill in using only gravity to balance all the various forces imposed upon this structure resulting from wind-loading.
The whole mill, set amidst its surrounding buildings, is shown in this first photograph. Its unusually high 3-storeyed base section is constructed in brick and waterproofed by tar. Above this is the white-painted timber smock, so-called, due (with a considerable exercise of the imagination), to its resemblance to the old-time countryman's smock dress. Above this, again, is the cap, shown separately in this second photograph.
It is this section which I find most fascinating. Weighing some 25 tons, it carries the sails and, at the rear, the 8-bladed fantail which rotates about a horizontal axis at right-angles to that of the sails. When the fantail is driven by the wind, a system of gearing causes the whole cap to rotate about its vertical axis. This continues until the fantail is in the lee of the cap, at which time, of course, the sails face into the wind. Thus, the fantail automatically keeps the sails into the wind.
More History
In about 1830, after the Union of Creditors had recouped the debts owed to them, they sold the mill to John and George Russell, brothers who came from a family of millers in Sussex.
Through the years, until the mid-1950's, the mill was successively modernised and operated by five generations of the Russell family. Wind power gave way to steam in the 1880's, to gas in the 1920's, and to electricity in the 1950's. The last of the Russell's did much to restore the mill to its original condition. Soon after his death in 1958, the mill passed into ownership of Kent County Council who completed the restoration.
It is now operated by the Cranbrook Windmill Association - a group of enthusiastic and very knowledgable volunteers. It is open to the public at weekends from April to September when, as they say, "wind permitting" they grind flour for sale to visitors.
Many thanks to John Willson of Goddards Close.
