Restoration of Upminster Windmill

At the end of May two members of the Friends of Windmill Gardens, Jean Kerrigan and Chris Patton, were invited to Upminster Windmill to give a talk about the past, present and future of Brixton Windmill. They were warmly received, and the Friends of Upminster Windmill had lots of questions, particularly about the restoration of Brixton Windmill funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), ?and future plans at Brixton.

Currently the large Upminster smock mill, built in 1803 and working as a corn mill up to 1934, is closed for a major restoration that is part funded by the HLF. The first phase, to build a new interpretation centre on the site, is well under way, and the building should be ready later this year.

The second phase to totally restore the wooden smock mill and bring it back to working order has just started. A millwright from Holland has begun to remove sections of the mill, which will be fully restored in his Dutch workshops. The various sections will be repaired, and where necessary renewed, and returned so that Upminster can re-open to the public in early 2018.

We look forward to hosting a visit of Upminster Friends at Brixton Windmill in August.