High Salvington Windmill

Durrington or High Salvington Windmill is a Grade II listed post mill in High Salvington, Sussex that has been restored and is in full working order. The mill stands 320ft above sea level and is able to take advantage of incoming sea winds.HistoryThe earliest mention of a mill is in church records, which indicate that the miller was fined in 1615. Budgen's 1724 map showed a mill on this site. The current mill was built around 1750 and was apparently insured against fire in 1774. The windmill ground flour for the Worthing area until 1897 when it was purchased by Colonel T F Wisden. A condition of sale was that the mill had to be kept in working order. It was retired to a role of grinding animal feed until 1905. During much of the 20th century the mill was neglected although in 1907 the wooden roundhouse was replaced with a concrete structure used as a tea-room. In 1959, the mill was taken into the care of Worthing Borough Council. Messrs E Hole and Son, millwrights of Burgess Hill renovated the mill in 1961 and fitted a new pair of stocks and four new sails. In March 1976 one of the sails was broken off in a gale, and the other three removed. An inspection of the mill revealed she was not in good repair. Worthing Town Council set up a restoration project. The roundhouse was rebuilt to better replicate the original in 1990 and the restored mill began grinding again in 1991. A granary was rescued from East Grinstead was re-erected at the mill in 1994. In 1998 it was discovered that one of the stocks was split. A new stock was made from laminated larch and the sails were refitted.