Information Board near Lacey Green Windmill

Image: © David Hillas Taken: 10 Dec 2020

This information board has been provided by the Chiltern Society and is by the crossroads between Lacey Green and Loosley Row, the postcode being HP27 0PG. It has the following wording: Visit & enjoy Lacey Green Windmill Left Column Lacey Green Windmill is the oldest surviving Smock Mill in England. Its important and unique wooden machinery dates from around 1650. Windmills and Watermills were the first real machines, harnessing natural power for the vital role of milling cereal crops into food products for people and livestock. A local grist mill was crucial to all communities before goods became easier to transport around the country during the Victorian era. By 1970 the mill was close to collapse; it took more than 15 years for volunteers from the Chiltern Society to complete its restoration and it is now open to the public. Awards In 1986 the windmill received the annual Malcolm Dean Design Award from Wycombe District Council. In 2013 the windmill was awarded the 86th Engineering Heritage Award by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Top columns Until 1915 the mill was in use taking advantage of its high position on the Chiltern escarpment to mill various cereal products. When it stopped being used, the substantial timber machinery had been in use for around 250 years. In 1935 the mill was given some repairs to keep it watertight and upright to preserve its historic machinery. By the end of the 1960s, the mill was in very bad condition, and members of the Chiltern Society decided it should be restored. Between 1971 and 1986, many volunteers achieved the seemingly impossible project to restore the windmill back to working order. Middle area Photo of 'The mill today' Middle Right column Photos of The interior from top to bottom Cap Bin floor Stone floor Meal floor Far Right column The smock mill is a type of windmill that consists of a sloping horizontally weatherboarded tower, usually with six or eight sides. It is topped with a roof or cap that rotates to bring the sails into the wind. This type of windmill got its name from its resemblance to smocks worn by farmers in an earlier period. Visiting the windmill The windmill is open from 2pm to 5pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays from the beginning of May until the end of September. We will sometimes get the sails turning, usually on the Sunday of National Mills Weekend in May each year. However, we do not operate the machinery inside the windmill, as putting 350 year old wooden machinery under load could do irrepairable damage.

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