Smallburgh - Smallburgh Tower Windmill

Smallburgh Tower Windmill

Close to both Smallburgh and nearby Wayford Bridge stands Smallburgh tower windmill. The mill was built in 1850 by millwrights England’s of Ludham and stood four storeys and 30 feet (9.1 m) tall. The diameter at the base of the mill measures 14 feet (4.3 m), and the walls are 18 inches (460 mm) thick. The configuration of the mill was of four double-shuttered patent sails, each with five bays of three shutters and one bay of four shutters, struck by rack and pinion via a chain pole that drove a 14-foot-diameter (4.3 m) by 9-inch-wide (230 mm) scoop wheel and a pair of under driven 3-foot-6-inch (1.07 m) French burr stones on the first floor. The Norfolk boat-shaped cap had a petticoat at the sides and an extension to the horizontally-boarded front. The cap was turned to wind by a fan of eight blades. Today the mill no longer has its cap, although in 1984 the Broads Authority approved permission to install a new cap, fan stage and sails which still has not yet been completed. A bungalow has been attached to the mill's main body.