Mill working in 1910
Weybourne towermill |
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Mill working in 1910 |
Weybourne towermill was built in 1850. The five storey red brick tower had a white boat shaped cap with a petticoat, an eight bladed fan, a gallery and a second floor stage. The south facing outside door had a porch and there was a further inside door leading to the granary that abutted the tower. On the second floor were three pairs of overdriven stones. The mill had four double shuttered sails, each with nine bays of three, although at one time the two outer bays of each sail had no shutters. |
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Drawing by J.P. Chaplin 1920 |
TO LET AT WEYBOURNE NEAR HOLT |
| A FIRST-CLASS TOWER MILL driving three pairs of Stones, with Miller's House attached; also Five Acres of good LAND with it, with a prospect of hiring forty or fifty acres more to parties that can give good reference as to character and capital. Immediate possession may be had of the Mill; the Land at Michaelmas next. For particulars apply to Mr. S. Bird, Bodham near Holt, Norfolk. Norfolk News - 28th May 1870 |
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Winter of 1947 |
In the 1920s the mill underwent restoration and all the machinery was removed except the windshaft. At the same time the post from Weybourne postmill was incorporated into the Mill house alongside the towermill. The post held up a main beam on the ground floor and on the floor above a cash box had been cut into it with an 8" square cover. |
In 1929, the mill was owned by J. Sydney Brocklesby, who contemplated replacing the sails to generate electricity to supply the Mill House. As a boy, George Read did odd jobs for the Brocklesby's. |
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1951 |
During the restoration in the 1920s, the roof of the granary that butted up against the tower was raised. This meant that the new sails installed in 1969 were considerably lower than the roof line. The four new skeleton double sails each had eight bays and were fixed to a black boat shaped cap facing east with an eight bladed skeleton fan to the rear. The gallery and stage had been removed and the stage door glazed to match the windows. |
Spies in Weybourne |
The following account was supplied by Jim Baker whose cousin Rosemary Read related it to him in 2005. She was the daughter of William Read (better known as Billy) and would have been 8 or 9 years old at the time. We're looking at 1942 or 1943. Rosemary’s father, Billy Read and the local policeman were walking down the lane from the old coastguard cottages towards the mill at night when they both saw a light flashing from the top of the mill out towards the sea. Apparently nothing was done (which seems odd, given the war time conditions) but seemingly it bothered Billy and he went back out a couple of nights later and saw this again. My cousin recalls two nights later sitting on the stairs eavesdropping on her parents' conversation and hearing Billy say that he was suspicious of the wife of the man living in the mill. The man living in the mill was a Mr. Dodds and his wife apparently had a strong foreign accent which my cousin remembers as "like German or Austrian". I have also had a letter from another lady who remembers Mrs. Dodds as having a strong foreign accent. Mrs. Dodds made a great effort to establish herself as part of the local community and showed much interest in the military camp in Weybourne. She also took a lot of interest in the local children and gave some of them tennis lessons. She rode around the village on a bicycle, as many did at that time, and always had a very large bag (described by my cousin as a carpet-bag) in the basket in the front of the bicycle, which she was always careful to keep close to her when not on the bike. The story goes that she left it unattended outside the tennis court one day, and the bicycle fell over. Uncle Billy picked the bicycle up and then the bag, which had fallen out of the basket. He took a look inside and found a radio transmitter! He told the police and a day or two later the authorities arrived and took the lady and her husband away. She was not seen again but the husband came back some weeks later, cleared out his possessions and also vanished. Their daughter was in the Red Cross during the war years and their son fought for us against the Germans. He was badly shot up and was being brought home by ship when it received a direct hit from the Germans. Many years later in about 1997, a woman turned up in Weybourne claiming to be Mrs. Dodds daughter and asked whether any of the people that she knew and had lived in the village during the war were still there. Unfortunately I was out when she called round. Jim Baker - March 2005 |
The winter of 1947 was very harsh and Mr. Gasche of Gasche's Restaurant came up to the mill on his skis and brought us some eggs and milk. The snow was six feet deep and he was walking over hedges, not that he could see them. A train was stuck on the line between Weybourne and Sheringham and the people had to stay on it all night. They brought in some German prisoners of war from Salthouse to dig the roads out. Up near the woods they found a coal lorry that had been stuck there for three days and they brought us all some coal. Rosemary Read - 31st March 2005 |
There must have been about 100 German prisoners of war arrived in this part of the world in August or September 1946. They came here to work on the beach and clear all the mines from Blakeney to Mundesley, and they took over the old army-camp which used to be where Catriona Court now stands, (in Salthouse, near the pub) and before that Myngs Terrace. The RAF had it first, then the army. I think the POWs were in between the two. They were there for 15 months from August ‘46 to November ‘47, and the first winter they were there, the prisoners gave a party for all the younger children of Kelling School. They took them up to the camp here and every child had a toy—I know my sister Jasmine had a doll’s pram - and all the toys were made by the prisoners. They were very clever, they had wheels that went round and dolls’ houses and I remember a big round board with chickens on it pecking. That Christmas, there was an appeal over the radio and in the press: ‘If you have a Prisoner of War camp near you, invite a POW into your house for Christmas’ and my mother - although we were six of us home at that time - she said, ‘We’ll invite somebody.' Salthouse Local History website |
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26th May 1970 |
TURNBULL & CO., Market Place, Holt NORTH NORFOLK COAST |
One of the outstanding landmarks and most interesting Properties on the N. Norfolk coast. WEYBOURNE WINDMILL, between Blakeney and Sheringham, has in recent years been extensively renovated and restored (although not in working order) and is now a modernised spacious and comfortable 5-bedroom House with unrivalled views. Dining rm., fine first - floor drawing rm., and adjoining sitting rm., with picture windows giving superb coastal views, study/platyrm., sun rm., kit. with Aga, full c.h. Gge., large attractive gdn. (Holt Office) Eastern Daily Press - 23rd May 1981 |
Offers in the region of £138,000 Eastern Daily Press - 22nd July 1981 |
SOLD APRIL £125,000 Eastern Daily Press - 7th May 1982 |
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12th October 2003 |
I used to live in the Coast Guard Cottages further on down the lane from
about 1948 to 1953. My mother, Heather Beckerson's family came from
Weybourne and she was born there. I remember going into the Windmill because we must have known the family - I do recognise the name Billy Read from my mother's memory, I went to Kelling School - may be with the daughter, I can't remember, but I used to think even when I was so young that it must be great to live in a Windmill! Thanks for your history of the place - it brought back childhood memories. Once I started searching for names, I even found pictures of my mother's brother and sister at Kelling School in the 1930s, and this may kick start me to tracing the family history which I have been trying to do for years. Jacqui Henness - 11th September 2008 |
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4th May 2009 |
| 1850: Mill built 1850: Daniel Brett 1859: John Dawson (also Weybourne watermill and Weybourne postmill) advertised the mill to be let 1862: John Dawson (also Weybourne watermill and Weybourne postmill) advertised the mill to be let c.1869: John Dawson bankrupt 1872: James Buckenham 1873: Mill to advertised to be let at a rent of £35 per annum 1875-1878: Adam Aldridge 1879-1888: Thomas Bird, miller and farmer 1892: James Youngman 1896: Thomas John Youngman, miller, farmer, corn and flour merchant 1916: Thomas John Youngman, miller and Clerk to Parish Council c.1916: Mill ceased to work c.1925: Mill restored but machinery removed except windshaft 1929: J. Sydney Brocklesby. Mill had no sails, fantail or gallery c.1942: Mr & Mrs Dodds c:1945 - 1952: William Read, Sarahann Read and daughter Rosemary Read 1956: Mill cap and fan frame still in situ but no sails or stocks 1967: Mill bought by Mr. W.M.T. Boby of Watford. 1968: New cap made and installed by William Bird & Son, Contractors Ltd. of North Walsham Spring 1969: Skeleton sails installed by Thompson & Son. No brakewheel, so sails were fixed accordingly August 1970: Woodwork painted with a grant from Norfolk Windmills Trust 1973: Grant from Norfolk Windmills Trust for further work May 1981: Mill for sale May 1982: Mill sold for £125,000 |
If you have any memories, anecdotes or photos please let us know and we may be able to use them to update the site. By all means telephone 01263 713658 or
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| Nat Grid Ref TG11524314 | Copyright © Jonathan Neville 2004 |