NHER 15205 (Monument record) - Site of post medieval windmills

Site of two windmills. Marked on Faden's 1797 map of Norfolk (S1).
E. Rose (NAU) 6 September 1979.

Two post mills recorded in 1714. Replaced by tower mill 1827. Last used 1892.
E. Rose (NAU), 24 March 1982.

A modern copy of a map in the Holkham archives, the copy held at Westward House, Mill Road, Wells, does show as stated both postmills to the north of the road. But a transcript of the 1813 Enclosure map shows 'Mr Hudsons New Mill' on this site, and 'Mr Hudsons Old Mill' on the opposite side of Mill Road. Probably the Holkham and Faden maps are more likely to be correct. Sales catalogues for 1810 refer to two postmills with French stones, and for 1864 for one postmill and one tower mill with two common sails and two patent sails; but one of these may have been site NHER 15206.
E. Rose (NLA), 15 May 1995.

March 2018. Photographic Survey.
Record made of surviving post-medieval features in land adjacent to 106 Mill Road, which was the site of the tower windmill constructed by Peter Hudson in 1827. This survey was undertaken prior to the redevelopment of the site.
The remains of a roadside building were recorded, adjacent to the modern bungalow. The northern side of this structure has been removed, the surviving walls forming a rectangular enclosure 13m long and 10m wide. The walls themselves were 2m high, made from handmade red bricks and now capped with pantiles. It is clear from historic maps that this was a mill building, possibly a granary. It was originally adjacent to a larger structure that was demolished during the later 20th century, prior to the construction of the extant bungalow (which partially occupies its site).
A roughly circular mound visible to the north of the walled enclosure was the likely location of the 19th -century tower mill. It appeared to be made of rubble and was approximately 8m in diameter.
A section of curving flint and lime mortar wall at the northern edge of the site was the remains of an original boundary wall, corresponding with a curving boundary depicted on late 19th-century and early 20th-century maps.
A brick pier and a fragment of brick wall were associated with the western boundary of the site, which is now formed by a hedgerow and wire fence.
See report (S1) for photographs and additional information on the history of the site.
P. Watkins (HES), 28 January 2021.