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Drawing
from the late 1800's
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Tower
Mill ablaze in summer of 1911
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History
The Tower Mill at Mark Cross, East
Sussex was built in 1845 by the Arnold Brothers of Paddock Wood. She comprised of a five storey, two foot thick, brick tower
half tiled with Kentish peg. She was capped unsually with a wooden Kentish smock hood painted white. This housed a patented
four sweep sail and a large fan-tail.
Inisde the floors consisted from top to bottom of :-
Top gears housed
in the hood
Bin floor
Stone floor
Spout Floor
Roundel
There were three pairs of stones driven by the mill,
an oats crusher and a sifter.
The first owner was farmer Catherine Ashby then the Walter family took ownership, living
in Mill House until after the Second World War.
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Rebuilt
with a castelled Top
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On 26th July 1911 the mill caught fire, the blaze could
be seen as far as Argos Hill and Cross in Hand Mills. The fire destroyed the Smock top and Sail assembly which was afterwards
replaced with an ungainly castelled top. The mill continued to operate being powered by a gas engine.
In 1962 the tower
was converted into a private house with large windows and cedar weather boarding covering the cement facing on the top two
floors.
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Tower
Mill before conversion
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References
The Windmills of Sussex - Martin
Brunnarius
Windmills at Work in East Sussex - Maurice Lawson Finch
Windmills in Sussex - Peter Hemming
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