Origins and Location
Origins :
The exact origins of the two windmills will probably never be known. There are a number of earlier local accounts and even books that claim that they existed at the time of C11th Doomsday ! There were no windmills in Doomsday anywhere in the country.
The first stone tower windmills appeared in northern France c1290 with the earliest in England near Dover Castle c1295*. However, it would appear that the stone towers of these windmills on Portland are among the oldest surviving ones in the country - see more details using this link.
The stone towers have vertical walls with a slight reducing in size near the top kerbs. This type of tower is common in the southern Mediterranean area and this may indicate that they were originally built under the influence or actually by someone from that area. There was a surprising amount of trade that took place and a port such as nearby Weymouth would have had numerous foreign ships visiting.
Another possibility is that the mills were built to help provision Portland Castle. This castle was built by Henry VIII and was completed in 1540. Without a direct link to the mainland, other provisioning the castle would have had to be by boat.
In C18th Hutchins notes ..."water here is plenty and good, there being a number of springs on the lower part of the Isle at the foot of the north hill, which soon drives a mill".... this would appear to be a water mill in Fortuneswell but was probably quite small. Location is unknown.
The two surviving stone windmill towers are located south of the main village of Easton on the main "tophill" area of Portland, south of Weymouth in Dorset. They are both located in the Droop or Windmill field with the North Mill in "Cottonfields" and the south mill in "Top Growlands"
O.S Grid References :
North Mill = SY 690 713 [Lat 50.540571 - Long -2.438861]
South Mill = SY 691 712 [Lat 50.539677 - Long -2.437441]
The two mills are 143 metres apart and aligned approximately NW / SE - this is at right angles to the prevailing SW wind which blows off the English Channel and up over the gradually inclined land reaching the mills at approximately 90 metres above sea level.
"All Portlanders know that if the wind was not strong enough to power them both, one was stopped !"
In actual fact, the "rule of thumb" for operating two windmills close to one another is for them to be at least 10 diameters apart (diameter of sail sweep) and to be set across the prevailing wind. The Easton windmills are set to face south west - the prevailing wind. The diameter of the sail sweep on the smaller north mill is some 10 metres so 10 times this = 100metres. The mills are 143 metres apart.
Access : The best parking place for access to the mill towers is the Portland museum car park. From here, walk up the bank at the rear of the car park and along the footpath (towers can be seen from here). Access from Park Road (across old rail bridge - near supermarket) is possible on foot but there is no parking here. You could park in the Supermarket but check if there is any time restrictions etc.
Found on the Portland Windmill “Facebook” page (I am not on Facebook !) - Thanks to Paul Hoskins who posted this on on the Portland Windmills Facebook page on 1st July 2017 (3D modelling made using Eagle Vista)
Here’s a link to the interactive page that allows you to view from all angles : (the shot below is a screenshot taken online)
