Description
Wimbledon Windmill is an octagonal windmill with sloping weatherboarded sides, standing in the open grass of Wimbledon Common, in south-west London: one of the few windmills left in the city, built in 1817 and now a small museum of milling.
Inside, the museum tells the story of windmills and of how grain became flour, with working models, over two floors. Outside, the sails stand out against the woods and heath of the Common.
The mill ground its last flour in 1864, when Earl Spencer, lord of the manor, evicted the miller because he wanted to enclose the Common. Its base was then rebuilt in brick as living quarters, and in 1893 the hollow post mill was turned into a smock mill.
Robert Baden-Powell stayed at the Mill House in 1902 and wrote parts of Scouting for Boys there.
Inside, the museum tells the story of windmills and of how grain became flour, with working models, over two floors. Outside, the sails stand out against the woods and heath of the Common.
The mill ground its last flour in 1864, when Earl Spencer, lord of the manor, evicted the miller because he wanted to enclose the Common. Its base was then rebuilt in brick as living quarters, and in 1893 the hollow post mill was turned into a smock mill.
Robert Baden-Powell stayed at the Mill House in 1902 and wrote parts of Scouting for Boys there.