High Salvington Windmill - History

History

The earliest mention of a mill is in church records, which indicate that the miller was fined in 1615. Budgen's 1724 map showed a mill on this site. The current mill was built around 1750 and was apparently insured against fire in 1774. The windmill ground flour for the Worthing area until 1897 when it was purchased by Colonel T F Wisden. A condition of sale was that the mill had to be kept in working order. It was retired to a role of grinding animal feed until 1905. During much of the 20th century the mill was neglected although in 1907 the wooden roundhouse was replaced with a concrete structure used as a tea-room. In 1959, the mill was taken into the care of Worthing Borough Council. Messrs E Hole and Son, millwrights of Burgess Hill renovated the mill in 1961 and fitted a new pair of stocks and four new sails. In March 1976 one of the sails was broken off in a gale, and the other three removed. An inspection of the mill revealed she was not in good repair. Worthing Town Council set up a restoration project. The roundhouse was rebuilt to better replicate the original in 1990 and the restored mill began grinding again in 1991. A granary was rescued from East Grinstead was re-erected at the mill in 1994. In 1998 it was discovered that one of the stocks was split. A new stock was made from laminated larch and the sails were refitted.

In early 2008, the three councillors from Salvington Ward, Mayor Heather Mercer, Cllr Jacqui Marsh and Cllr Noel Atkins, awarded the Mill Trust a total of £3,000, from the Mayor's fund and the pilot Ward Budget Scheme, respectively. This will contribute to the refurbishment of the current gatehouse as a visitor information centre, which it is hoped will be completed by the end of 2009.