Windmills in Littleover

LITTLEOVER WINDMILLS

Littleover was once open countryside to the west of Derby and has now been swallowed up by that city. Housing has virtually absorbed the parish of Littleover and continues to spread west, beyond the parish boundary. It is now hard to believe that there were windmills in Littleover. I use the plural for there is a possibility that over the centuries there could have been four windmills. Mostly using field names I have tried to identify where the sites of the windmills may have been.

What is a windmill? A windmill is a tower or structure made of brick or wood with sails that are driven round by the wind. The energy produced by the sails is used to power the internal machinery and drives the millstones.

Going back in history to the years of the Doomsday Book, 1086/7. The document states that the Hundred of Litchurch had two mills. Litchurch included Mickleover, Littleover and a number of other places. According to the author, A. B. Scott in his book ‘Littleover and its Church’, written in 1916, he translates from the Doomsday Book that ‘(There are) 2 sites of mills’. However in the Phillimore Doomsday Book (Derbyshire) translation states that there is no mention of a mill in Littleover.

Littleover is on high ground and reaches an altitude of over 340 feet (104 metres) at its highest point. With its elevated position and with the dominant westerly winds, Littleover was a very suitable place for a mill, for milling grain.

Windmill Site 1

Scott goes on to write later in his book ‘A windmill stood at one time in the field on the west side of Chain Lane, at the Burton Road end, somewhere between the lane and a group of beech trees. Some older residents of the village [at that time] still call that part of the field the “Mill Close”.’ That corner part of the field became the Coppice Hotel which was rebranded as the Crest Motel and later the Forte Posthouse Hotel.

In the Littleover Inclosure Act 1768 there were no details for the field on the corner, numbered 17, however an adjacent field, number 27, was named Mill Close. The fields are shown on the Inclosure Plan (see figure 1). This plan was drawn at an angle and north is not facing the top.

In the Tithe Commutation Act of 1836, as signed for Littleover on the 19th December 1850, the field was numbered 46, and was named Mill Close and the adjacent field, number 47, was named Mill Close and part of Bath Close. The fields are shown on the Tithe Map (see figure 2).

Mill close was mentioned in the Derby Mercury on the 19th July 1798, when Littleover Hall was advertised as ‘To Be Let’. In the advert, four lands (fields) were offered to the tenant these were contiguous to the house. The tenant could accommodate all or any of the following :- Horse Croft, Little Cow Close, Great Cow Close, and Pingles. These fields were located on the south side of Burton Road. There was another field named Mill Close offered, if required. This field was 14a 2r 5p in size and the only field that it could possibly be was on the north side of Burton Road, directly opposite the Great Cow Close. As mentioned above there were no details for this field number 17 in 1768, but in 1850 as number 46 its size was 14a 0r 0p. The difference of 2 rood 5 perches could have been due to field boundary changes.

In January 2003 Birmingham University Field Archaeology carried out an archaeological, desk-based, assessment of the site of the former Forte Posthouse Hotel in advance of a housing development. The site designated a Monument, record MDR11379 - Windmill (site of), Chain Lane, Littleover, Derby. They found that the Tithe Map of 1850 shows a square building within the proposed development area, which the accompanying award lists as a mill. After reviewing the evidence, which included the extract from Scott’s book, the conclusion was that it may be that a mill that dates back to medieval times was on this site.

Windmill Site 2

The Toll House (number 315 Burton Road) or Toll Gate, at the Derby end of the Derby and Burton Turnpike Road of 1753, was named Windmill Field Gate. With the field name like Windmill Field, it can only be assumed that at some time a windmill was located within that field or nearby. Prior to boundary changes Windmill Field was in Littleover.

Evidence of the gate name can be found in a notice that appeared in the Derby Mercury on the 19th July 1798. This was concerning the Derby and Burton Turnpike Road, the first paragraph of which was as follows :- ‘Notice is hereby given that the Tolls arising at the Toll Gates, upon the Turnpike Road, leading from the West-end of the Town of Burton-upon-Trent, in the county of Stafford, through the said Town, to the South-end of the Town of Derby, in the county of Derby, called Windmill Field Gate, Stretton Moor Gate, and the Egginton Gate, will be Let by Auction.’

Windmill Site 3

A possible site for a windmill was at Huffin Heath Farm on Uttoxeter Road. Two fields have strong connections with a mill. The fields are named Near Mill Stone Close, numbered 56 in the Tithe Commutation Act, and Far Mill Stone Close number 59, as shown on the Tithe Map (see figure 3). In the Littleover Inclosure Act there were no corresponding fields. Field boundary changes after Inclosure had completely changed some field shapes and sizes, these two fields bore no resemblance to those fields of eighty-two years earlier. The fields all previously named Ouffin Heath probably adopted their new names at the time they were rearranged.

In Tithe Map the premises number 13 is listed as ‘house, out buildings, hold stack yard and garden’, and was known as Huffin Heath Farm. Was this farm the site of a windmill? The close proximity of field Near Mill Stone Close to the farm would suggest that it was.

The homestead, Huffin Heath Farm, was sold in a complete dispersal sale in October 1971 when it and the surrounding lands were taken for the Mickleover By-Pass Scheme (A38 and A516).

Windmill Site 4

This site was based on no particular evidence. Located to the west of Littleover Old Hall and now in the grounds of Derby High School.

In September 2022 York Archaeology produced a written scheme of investigation for an archaeological watching brief on the Derby High School site. The investigation was prior to the construction of a new refectory and art and design building, the development of a new car park and the relocation of netball and tennis courts. I have not seen any archaeological reports of any finds on this site to suggest that there had been a windmill there.

Conclusion

From the evidence above there is a strong possibility that there was at least one windmill in Littleover, but the position of it or of them is not definite.

Chris Drury

November 2025