Introduction

The windmill shown above was at Baiter in Poole Harbour and is recorded as having been erected in 1543.

Dorset has always been a watermill county primarily due to its numerous rivers and streams. The capital costs of constructing the necessary dams, mill ponds and weirs for watermills made a reasonably sound investment which once established, would encourage continuing investment. Water could be stored in ponds and used when required with the miller in charge of the energy source.

However, a surprising number of windmills had also been built in Dorset in the past, mainly in low lying coastal areas or on the higher ground of North Dorset and the Isle of Portland. The construction of some of the windmills had been prompted by the need to supplement existing watermills when powered by the numerous and unreliable winterborne streams of the county.

The majority of windmills in the county have been corn grinding mills although a few in the Poole area powered flax balling mills. A number of Dorset windmills are very early in date with at least six being C13th or early C14th. All mills have been small and fairly primitive in type and for localised use only.

Details and records on the county's windmills are somewhat scarce. Actual remains are almost non existent with two stone windmill towers at Easton, Portland being the only historic mills to survive even in part. These are dealt with in detail in this study. Many early Dorset windmills appear to have been wooden postmills and survive perhaps as archaeological substructures or in documentary evidence only. Windmill place names tend to survive even though a mill has not been visible for perhaps 500 years - Windmill Hill being the most common throughout the south west England.

The C16th - C17th stone tower mills on Portland have small parallel sided towers with single pairs of stones in common with other such mills found in south west England. Neighbouring Somerset has some 15 stone towers remaining with 2 complete windmills. Windmills were always prone to storm & fire damage with the need for constant care and maintenance. Most old timber post windmill sites have probably had several mills or rebuildings over the centuries.

The site locations as known are shown on the map link. There are over forty windmill sites listed. Where known, exact or probable OS grid references are given.

There are several neighbouring windmill sites in both Wiltshire and Somerset and these form an integral part of the windmilling tradition in the south west area. There are no such nearby windmill sites in Hampshire to the east or Devon to the west.

Useful comparisons can be made however with Dorset's other neighbouring windmill sites in neighbouring counties and across the English Channel in Brittany & the Channel Islands. Trade with these countries and indeed further afield in southern Europe, almost certainly brought an exchange of ideas relating to windmill construction and techniques.