TWENTY PICTURES: Lowfield Heath Windmill

The windmill was built in about 1740 and was originally situated at Lowfield Heath, in a field to the West of the Lowfield Heath roundabout on the A23. Until 1880 it worked by wind power, grinding wheat into flour.

It is a post mill, so called because the whole upper part of the windmill revolves around a central post. There are only about a dozen post mills in Britain that are in working order.

By the 1980's the village of Lowfield Heath had been demolished to allow for airport expansion and the windmill was derelict and on the point of collapse. The company who owned it wanted to use the land to build hangars and warehouses (I assume the planning application is still being prepared!) so the only way to save the mill was to move it.

The windmill was dismantled in 1987, repaired, rebuilt in a field to the north of Russ Hill, in Charlwood, and restored to full working order in 1999.

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All photos by Ian Mulcahy. E-mail crawleyoldtown@gmail.com