Wicken Windmill Partnership
Millwrighting and traditional flour milling.
Contact
Wicken, Ely
England
U.K.
CB7 5XU
About
The Wicken Windmill Partnership was established in 1987 to repair, maintain and run the unique 19th Century 12 sided Cambridgeshire smock mill, Wicken Village Corn Windmill. Many of the original partners had previously worked on a similar volunteer restoration project at Thelnetham in Suffolk. The partners of the windmill are all de facto millwrights, often with many years of experience. The team is responsible for all work carried out on the mill whether it is the design and construction of new sails, building large wooden gear wheels, making patterns for metal parts to be cast in our small light-alloy foundry, or researching the history of the mill etc. There are eleven members of the partnership who bring different skills to the project. All of the profits from the sale of flour at the mill and donations are used on the continued work on the mill.
All of the work on the mill including scale drawings and specifications are recorded in the Wicken Millwrights Databook, an unusual record intended to guide future generations of millwrights.
In addition to the work on the Wicken Village Corn Windmill, the partnership has an involvement with a number of other mills such as the ancient post mill at Great Gransden and the wind-powered pumping mill at Foxton. We have also assisted at Soham North Common (Shade) Mill & Downfield Mill.
The major project to repair our windmill at Wicken started in 1987 and because it is now a fully working windmill this work continues on a regular basis. The partners and volunteers (who have over the years been the work force on the mill) also hold two extended work-ins at the mill, in May and August in normal years.
In addition to keeping the skills of millwrighting alive the partnership also continues the traditional skill of milling flour by millstones: there are few mills relying on the sale of flour made solely by wind power.
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