Marsh Mill

53°52′30″N 3°00′43″W / 53.8749°N 3.0120°W / 53.8749; -3.0120Year built1794InformationPurposeCorn millTypeTower millStoreysFiveNo. of sailsFourType of sailsPatent sailsWindshaftCast ironWindingFantailFantail bladesEightNo. of pairs of millstonesFour

Listed Building – Grade II*
Designated	24 March 1950
Reference no.	1073150

Marsh Mill is an 18th-century tower windmill in Thornton, Lancashire, England. It was built in 1794 by Ralph Slater for local landowner Bold Hesketh. It functioned as a corn mill until the 1920s and has been fully restored. It is a good example of a complete English windmill and has been designated a Grade II* listed building.^[1]

History

Marsh Mill was commissioned by local landowner Bold Hesketh of Rossall Hall and built in 1794 by Fylde millwright Ralph Slater.^[2][3] Marsh Mill was named after the marshy area in the north Fylde that was drained by Hesketh for the mill's construction.^[4] Slater was a well-known millwright in the area; he also built mills at Pilling and Clifton.^[5] The mill was initially used to grind different grades of flour.^[6] From the early 19th century, it was used to grind meal for farm animal feed.^[4][6] In the 19th century, the original chain and wheel winding gear was replaced with a four bladed fantail.^[1][6] The original common sails were replaced with patent sails in 1896.^[1] The mill stopped working in the 1920s.^[7] From 1928 to 1935 Marsh Mill functioned as a café.^[4] In 1930, two women who intended to buy the mill fell and died while inspecting it when the fantail staging collapsed when they stood on it.^[4]

It was designated a Grade II* listed building on 24 March 1950.^[1] The Grade II* designation—the second highest of the three grades—is for "particularly important buildings of more than special interest".^[8] Beginning in 1965, a 20-year restoration took place by the Marsh Mill Preservation Society.^[5] Further restoration was completed in 1990, bringing the machinery to full working order.^[1][4] It has been described as the "best preserved" and "finest" windmill in the north-west of England.^[5][6][9] English Heritage have called it "an exceptionally complete example of a tower windmill in a national context".^[1]

Structure

Marsh Mill is built of rendered brick; it is more than 70 feet (21 m) tall and has five storeys.^[6][10] The tower tapers and it has plain square windows.^[5] There is a two-storey kiln house attached.^[1] The ground floor and first floor are storage areas and have drying rooms.^[6] The second floor is the meal floor.^[1] It contains corn-dressing machinery.^[6] At the second floor, there is an external wooden stage that encircles the tower and is supported by stone corbels at the first floor level.^[1] This staging gives access to the sails.^[6]

The third floor is the stone floor, which contains four sets of millstones.^[1] The top floor is the dust floor.^[6] Like many Fylde windmills, the tower is topped with a boat-shaped wooden cap.^[1][6] It now has a "Lees Flyer" fantail.^[5]

See also

• Listed buildings in Thornton-Cleveleys
• List of windmills in Lancashire

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

• Media related to Marsh Mill at Wikimedia Commons