Fowler's Mill
{{Short description|Windmill in Battersea, London, England}}
{{For|the community in the United States|Fowlers Mill, Ohio}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Infobox Windmill
|name = Fowler's Mill, Battersea
|image = File:Battersea horizontal windmill.jpg
|caption = Fowler's Mill in 1804
|name_of_mill = Fowler's Mill
|location_of_mill =
|gbgridref = TQ 269 770
|coordinates = {{coord|51.47817|-0.17333|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
|built = 1788
|purpose = Corn mill
|type = Horizontal windmill
|base_storeys = Two storeys
|auxpower = Steam engine
|pairs_of_millstones= Six pairs
|stone_size =
|lost = Demolished 1825
|other =
}}
Fowler's Mill was a horizontal windmill erected at Battersea, Surrey (now in London), England in 1788 and which ceased to work by wind c. 1825.
History
Fowler's Mill was built in the grounds of the partly demolished Bolingbroke House{{cite web| url= http://www.londononline.co.uk/history/c18/10/| publisher = London Online| title = Chelsea | access-date= 26 April 2008}} in 1788 by Thomas Fowler to a design of Stephen Hooper. It worked by wind until 1825, when the windmill was dismantled, leaving the substructure, which was used for milling as late as 1882. Initially it was used to produce linseed oil, but was later used to grind malt for a distillery. The mill was supplemented by a steam engine, and Pitt the Younger is said to have shown great interest in the whole enterprise. The windmill was dismantled in 1825 as the cost of maintenance was too high. The building that the windmill was mounted on continued in use as a steam-powered mill until at least 1882.{{cite book | first = and Mason, M T| last = Farries, K G| year = 1966| title = The Windmills of Surrey and Inner London| pages = 50–53| publisher = Charles Skilton Ltd.| location = London}}
Description
Fowler's Mill had a three-storey base, which was {{convert|52|ft|m|2}} diameter at the ground and {{convert|45|ft|m|2}} diameter at the top of the {{convert|40|ft|m|2}} high walls. The windmill was mounted on top of this structure, it was a twelve sided structure some {{convert|80|ft|m|2}} tall, giving an overall height of some {{convert|120|ft|m|2}} overall. There were ninety-six sails (called floats), with the same number of shutters in the mill body which could be opened or closed to allow a flow of air through one half of the diameter of the structure. The mill drove six pairs of millstones. In height, it compared well with Southtown Windmill, Great Yarmouth, which was one of the tallest windmills in England at {{convert|102|ft|m|2}} in height.{{cite web|url=http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Windmills/gt-yarmouth-southtown-towermill.html |publisher=Norfolk Mills |title=Gt Yarmouth Southtown towermill |access-date=26 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607215817/http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Windmills/gt-yarmouth-southtown-towermill.html |archive-date=7 June 2007 }}
Millers
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{sisterlinks}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090328053310/http://www.newcomen.com/excerpts/horizontal_windmills/index.htm Horizontal Windmills] - Battersea windmill is described in this excerpt from the paper by Rex Wailes, published in Transactions of the Newcomen Society,1967–68, Vol 40.
{{Windmills in England}}
Category:Former windmills in London
Category:Grinding mills in the United Kingdom
Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1788
Category:Windmills completed in the 18th century
Category:Former buildings and structures in the London Borough of Wandsworth