Shipley Windmill

Finishing early on a Friday and a dry one at that created an opportunity to go somewhere else. I had intended to stop at Nuthurst, but this was not possible due to parking difficulties. So I went on towards home and made a stop at Shipley which lies just off the A272.

Shipley Windmill was built in 1879 and is a good example of a Smock Mill, so named due to it's shape resembling that of the smocks worn by farm workers particularly in the late 18th and 19th Centuries. The mill here has also featured in the BBC TV Series Jonathan Creek over a number of years, but not in the most recent ones. Up until a few years ago, the mill was regularly open to the public and in full working order. Unfortunately, the owner decided not to open it after many years for no apparent reason and now it stands looking rather forlorn and looks as if it is rapidly deteriorating. The recent bad weather has not helped, and the fan which rotates the cap and sweeps (the Sussex term for sails) has lost a number of it's vanes, some of which lie on the ground below. Hopefully in the future the mill will be returned to full working order and open for all to enjoy.