Brixton is in the borough of Lambeth in south London. The windmill is located in Windmill Gardens, a small park off Brixton Hill. The windmill was built in 1816 and is London's last working windmill. It is also open for tours a few times a year.
By booking, I was able to do the full tour, which goes up to the top floor. Unfortunately there is not a clear view of the windmill from outside, due to construction work of an education and visitor centre.
The sails are different, they are not the originals. The mill closed in 1934 and the new sails were made and added in 1964. It is a tower mill, as is the Shirley one. The structure is made of brick and wood and only the cap rotates. This means the tower can be taller and the sails therefore longer, so they can turn in lighter winds.
The mill was open to the public in 1968 but closed in 1990 and suffered vandalism and from lack of maintenance. It then received money from the Heritage Lottery Funding and is now open again. Tours are restricted to about 3 or 4 people.
The mill was owned by the Ashby family. The millstones were originally wind driven, but the sails were removed in 1864. In 1902 new millstones were installed, powered by steam. Today they are electric powered. We went straight up to the top floor, via sets of stairs. The original workers would have had to climb ladders.
Coming down a floor -
The electric powered millstones -
Examples of grinding stones. The middle one was imported from Zimbabwe, hand grinding. The one on the right shows how the millstones are curved, the weight crushes the grain which is fed in through the centre and pushes the ground flour out of the sides.
Thanks to Peter for a really informative tour.
Official site of Brixton windmill.
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