Portland RCHM & Listed Building Listings

The Royal Commission on Historical Monuments - Lesser Secular Monuments

Notes made on Portland windmills

North Windmill (NB Not numbered)

County : Dorset Parish : Portland Sub commission, SECULAR

1) Name & situation of monument : Windmill (north) situated some 830 yds SE of St Georges (C18th) Church, map ref 690713.

2) General Appearance :

a) No of storeys : Difficult to assess, now one storeyed shell

b) Building materials : Local coursed Portland rubble, some ashlar

c) Roofs : None

3) Historical development, description, sketch, plan photograph & special features :

The remains of the windmill (see DxP 2954 & full photo) consist of the circular tower built of Portland stone. The tower has an internal diameter of 10' 6", walls some 2' 4" thick and is about 18ft high.

The walls have a slight batter to a smaller top diameter. At this level there is a carefully laid perimeter track of ashlar, cut on the curve, and no doubt forming the track for the axial movement of the top of the mill so that the sails may face the wind.

The specially cut stones have been chisel dressed with a type of "pounced" finish. Laid across the top walls of the tower are two of the old sail arms with the central axle beam suspended vertically within the tower.

Externally there are traces of old rendering on the walls surfaces. At what was presumably the 1st floor level there are small loop lights, with ashlar heads and jambs.

At ground floor level there are two rough doorway entrances, with roughly finished heads and jambs. On the E side there is a hoist opening for both levels.

Note : The windmills are undoubtedly at the latest early C18th in origin. They are both shown on the map of Portland dated 1710 in Hutchins Dorset, also on a map of Dorset drawn by Isaac Taylor in 1765

4) Condition : Ruin, walling appears fairly sound.

5) No of Ordnance Sheet (6") : LVIII SE Dorset

6) Visited by : N Drinkwater Date : July 1961.

NB : DOE List of Buildings of special Architectural & Historical Interest (L720 942 332 GR1 - Wey Library)

Repeats main points listed above ref No 5192 Map ref : SY 67 SE 2/75

NB : The main notes are the original hand written site notes made in 1961 for RCHM.

In the RCHM Vol II MCMLXX SE Pt 2 p253 the following condensed version appears :

13) Windmills - Two 690713 & 691712 Circular with battered walls of stone rubble are shown on the map of Portland dated 1710 reproduced in Hutchins II 809 and may be of C17th date. They are both roofless & derelict (Plate 145). The top of the south mill which is more sharply battered has probably been rebuilt and the lower part adapted as a modern pill box. The doorway to the south mill has ashlar jambs & elliptical head. The windows to both mills have ashlar dressings.

South Windmill Numbered : No 13 (??)

County : Dorset Parish : Portland Sub commission, SECULAR

1) Name & situation of monument : South Windmill situated some 980 yds SE of St Georges (C18th) Church, map ref 691712.

2) General Appearance :

a) No of storeys : Probably three, now a shell ruin.

b) Building materials : Portland rubble, coursed, some ashlar work.

c) Roofs : None

3) Historical development, description, sketch, plan photograph & special features :

This windmill is slightly larger than the previous one described and has an internal diameter of 12ft. The walls are 2' 4" thick and have a slight inward batter, which becomes more pronounced about 5ft from the top. (See DxP 2955 & full photo view)

At ground floor level on the N side, there is a low doorway, with rebated ashlar jambs and an elliptical ashlar head. On the E side (see DxP 2955) at an interim level, can be seen the hoist doorway, with an ashlar head, it is now blocked up for the lower half.

There are small rectangular loops at 1st & 2nd floor levels, with chamfered ashlar heads and jambs. The lower walling has been pierced in various places to form weapon slits, as the building appears to have been used as a Home Guard or military strongpoint in the last war (WW2)

The top walling of the mill has a similar finish to that previously described, with specially cut ashlar track stones with "pounced" finish.

Interior : when the ground floor was used as a strongpoint, the upper stories were sealed off with corrugated iron and concrete, the former used as shuttering. The weapon slits have concrete sills; there are traces of original plaster work internally on the walls.

Note : The windmills are undoubtedly at the latest early C18th in origin. They are both shown on the map of Portland dated 1710 in Hutchins Dorset, also on a map of Dorset drawn by Isaac Taylor in 1765 *

4) Condition : Ruin, walls appear sound.

5) No of Ordnance Sheet (6") : LVIII SE Dorset

6) Visited by : N Drinkwater Date : July 1961.

* = Also shown on map of Portland 1800 by Gilbert Steward

NB : DOE List of Buildings of special architectural & Historical Interest

Ref No 5192 (as N mill) Map ref 67 SE 2/76

Repeats main points of RCHM notes but mentions that "Called Angel Mill on Tapperell's Map of 1827.

Also notes that : These are the only 2 remaining stumps ** of windmills in Dorset (mentions Dewar's DNH&AS article). (RC note : Only mention of this naming found so far)

** RC Note : I found reference to photos of windmill stamps in both CRO & DCM early in my researches. Thinking that this was a stamp used on the flour bags or similar I spent a long time enquiring only to draw an embarrassed blank at both (see letters). However seeing this ref to stumps later on - there had obviously been a typing error. The record in CRO has been corrected (April 96) following my discovery.

Listed Building Listings

South Tower

North Tower