Cromer Windmill, Ardeley

Ardeley Windmill
The mill in 2006
Origin
Mill name	Cromer Mill
Mill location	TL 304 286
Coordinates	51°56′27.84″N 0°06′13.22″W / 51.9410667°N 0.1036722°W / 51.9410667; -0.1036722Coordinates: 51°56′27.84″N 0°06′13.22″W / 51.9410667°N 0.1036722°W / 51.9410667; -0.1036722
Operator(s)	Hertfordshire Building Preservation Trust www.hertfordshirebpt.org
Year built	1681
Information
Purpose	Corn mill
Type	Post mill
Roundhouse storeys	Single storey roundhouse
No. of sails	Four sails
Type of sails	Patent sails
Windshaft	Cast iron
Winding	Ladder mounted fantail
Fantail blades	Eight blades
Auxiliary power	Steam engine, later replaced by an Oil engine
No. of pairs of millstones	Two pairs, a third pair driven by engine
Size of millstones	One pair is 4 feet 4 inches (1.32 m) diameter
Other information	Only surviving post mill in Hertfordshire

Cromer Windmill, restored in 1967-69, is a Grade II* listedpost mill at Cromer, Ardeley, Hertfordshire, England.

There has been a windmill in Cromer since 1192. A windmill was stated to be "in ruins" in 1374 and another is mentioned in 1576. No windmill is shown on John Seller's map dated 1676 or Herman Moll's map dated 1700. Despite the omission from the latter map, tree-ring counts on its timbers show that the mill was built in 1681.

In 1719, Matthew Crane was the miller. In 1773, John Pearman of Luffenhall inherited the mill from his uncle, John Crane. Pearman sold the mill to Thomas Pearman in 1800. In 1822 the mill passed to William Munt, who worked the mill until his death in 1837, when the mill passed to his widow Edith, who worked it until 1856 when her son David took over. He sold the mill for £600 to William Boorman in 1869. There is a suggestion that mill may have been blown down about this time, since the crosstrees have been dated by dendrochronology to 1840-70. Boorman was a blacksmith as well as a miller, and carried on both trades at the mill. He died in 1877 leaving the mill to his widow Emily. She ran the mill until 1888, when her son Ebenezer took over. A steam engine was being used as auxiliary power by this time. The mill was sold to Samuel Woollatt in the late 1890s, and Joseph Scowen was the tenant miller. The steam engine had been replaced by an oil engine by 1919; It worked a pair of millstones on a hurst frame outside the roundhouse. The mill was without sails in this year, although new sails were fitted by 1920. When a new 60 feet (18.29 m) long stock was imported from Sweden, the journey from Buntingford not being without difficulty as the stock went through a cottage window at one point. Scowen worked the mill until his death in 1920. The mill was worked by Joseph Ponder Scowen's widow Marian for a couple of years, and in 1922 Richard Hull took the mill. Hull worked the mill until 1930, apparently using the oil engine after 1923. The fantail had blown off by 1926 and one of the sails had been blown off by July 1929. The other three sails had been taken down by 1932 and the mill became derelict.