Mill name Halnaker Mill Year built Mid-18th century Type Tower mill | Grid reference SU 920 097 Purpose Corn mill | |
 | ||
Operator(s) West Sussex County Council Address Denge Ln, Chichester PO18 0LX, UK Similar Goodwood House, Boxgrove community, Boxgrove Priory, Weald & Downland Living Mu, Kingley Vale National | ||
Halnaker windmill west sussex climb
Halnaker Windmill is a tower mill which stands on Halnaker Hill, northeast of Chichester, Sussex, England. The Mill is reached by a public footpath from the north end of Halnaker, where a track follows the line of Stane Street before turning west to the hilltop. There is no machinery in the brick tower, which can be used for shelter.
Contents
Halnaker windmill from the air
History
Halnaker Mill was first mentioned in 1540 as belonging to the manor of "Halfnaked". It was built for the Duke of Richmond as the feudal mill of the Goodwood Estate. The surviving mill is thought to date from the 1740s and is known to have been standing c.1780. Halnaker Mill was working until struck by lightning in 1905, damaging the sails and windshaft. The derelict mill was restored in 1934 by Neve's, the Heathfield millwrights as a memorial to the wife of Sir William Bird. Further repair work was done in 1954 by E Hole and Sons, The Burgess Hill millwrights. The mill was again restored in 2004. The mill is owned by West Sussex County Council.
Description
Halnaker Mill is a four storey tower mill with a sixteen sided beehive cap. The mill was originally hand wound, and later fitted with a fantail, which was not replicated when the mill was restored. The four common sails were originally carried on a wooden windshaft, which was damaged by the 1905 lightning strike. A cast iron windshaft and wooden brake wheel from a wind sawmill at Punnetts Town were fitted. The windshaft is cast in two pieces, bolted together and was too short for Halnaker Mill. Neve's inserted a spacer to lengthen it. The mill worked two pairs of overdrift millstones.
Millers
Hilaire Belloc
Halnaker Mill (or Ha'nacker Mill, reflecting the true pronunciation) is the subject of a poem by the English writer Hilaire Belloc in which the collapse of the Mill is used as a metaphor for the tragic decay of the prevailing moral and social system.
There are musical settings of this poem by Peter Warlock and Ivor Gurney amongst others.