There has been a mill at Mappleton since the 14th century, but the current structure was built in 1798. It was in use until about 1905, after which it was converted into a house in 1907, and it was lived in until the 1930s. It was still a house when it was painted by Karl Salsbury Wood in 1935.
In June 1940, the mill was requisitioned to provide accommodation for soldiers. This unhappy episode probably explains why the building fell out of use for many years. We have been told that during World War II it was used as an aircraft observation tower.
After the War it was used as a pig hut. Occasionally the pigs would wander upstairs & lean out of the windows.
In 1995, a new cap was built and installed. The cap took Joe Midgley just over 2 months to construct, and weighs about 2 1/4 tons. Over the next 10 years, an extension was built to provide living accommodation.
The watercolour by Karen Toohey shows the back of the house in 2013. The colour photo is the estate agent’s picture from when we bought the house in the summer of 2014, showing the front.
This web site, like the house, is a work in progress. It will grow as we find out more about the history of the building.
If you have visited this site before, here is a list of the newest pages:
- Fixing the cap (November 2015)
- The garden (Summer 2015)
- The meadow (May 2015)
- The garages (April 2015)
- The garden (April 2015)
- The ground source heat pump performance data (March 2015)
- Installing the pump itself (February 2015)
- Preliminary work for the ground source heat pump (January 2015)
- Small changes, big difference (January 2015)
- England of the windmills (January 2015)
If you have any comments or information, please get in touch with us at the.proof.angel@gmail.com.
Mappleton Windmill 