Ringstead towermill was a six storey tarred brick that once had six sails, which was quite unusual for Norfolk. The mill was built c.1850 and had a boat shaped cap and a stage on the second floor. It stood at the end of a track some ¾ mile north of the village along with a cottage and outbuildings, having been built on the sit eof the earlier southern postmill.

The other known six sail mills in Norfolk were at: Sculthorpe, Terrington St Clement - Balsam_Fields and Orange Farm, Walsoken and West Walton Ingleborough.

Both Faden's and Greenwood's maps show two adjacent postmills at Ringstead, the northern mill and the southern_mill, the latter was advertised for sale and removal before Henry L'Strange Styleman le Strange built a towermill on the same site c.1840. It was reputed that the southern_postmill was moved about 2 miles east to Beacon Hill in Thornham, although up until 1863 the Rate Book in Thornham only records John Crane as owning one mill in Staithe Road even though both mills were known to be there in that year, thus the Ringstead_southern_postmill may have been assembled there during the course of that year, becoming Thornham_composite_mill.

The mill was converted to domestic use in 1927 and in 1981 still contained the windshaft and the six armed cross.

c.1845: Mill built

White's 1845: Robert Goodman, miller & brewer; Robert Powell, mill manager

c.1883-1890: John Crane jnr

1892: John Crane jnr (son) advertised Thornham composite mill for sale

Copyright © Jonathan Neville 2004