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Summary

A late 18th or early 19th century windmill, now without sails.
Brick sloping tower with domed cap. Late C18 or early C19. No sails. Single storey additional buildings at back.

Full Description

<1> Bedfordshire Historical Record Society, Bedfordshire Historical Record Society, Vol 14, 1931, pp 16-17 (Serial). SBD10681.

Brick tower-mill, standing on the open land on the north side of West Street. This mill stands 58 feet over the wooden base terminal, and 28 feet across its base. The masonry is of Caddington brick, and remarkably solid; the walling measures no less than 3 feet 6 inches at the ground level, tapering to 24 inches at the top. There are five floors, including the ground floor. The domed top is of sheet copper, with a shaped wood overhang. The mill has three pairs of stones, but two were sufficient at anyh one time with the sail power. The sails were shuttered, and were turned to the wind by means of a sail-fan; they were removed in 1908, and the mill is now worked by a gas plant and with considerable additions. It is said to have been built by Richard Gutteridge. In 1839 the Tithe Schedule states, he was owner of Enclosure no 66, the windmill in West Street (CRO: AT 12), which was the present day location. It was conveyed in 1845 to Joseph and Matthew Gutteridge, and thence to Richard Radwell in 1869. William Thomas Bransom was owner in 1898, and it subsequently passed to Frederick Simmons, whose son Frank Simmons, has been in possession since 1918.

<2> Bedfordshire Magazine, Vol 1, 1947-1949, p 153 (Serial). SBD10543.

Themill at Dunstable, which stands on the north side at West Street, has not been a windmill since 1908 when its sails were removed and a gas engine installed to provide the motive poter. It was built of local brick from Caddington, and had double-shuttered patent sails and a fan.

<3> J K Major, 1967, SPAB Wind and Watermill Section Record Cards, 52/10035 (Index). SBD11273.

A brick tower mill with copper-sheathed dome. Gutted in 1942. Corn milling.

<4> Keith Falconer, 1980, Guide to England's Industrial Heritage, p 44 (Bibliographic reference). SBD10699.

DUNSTABLE/The Windmill, West Street (TL 015218)/ West of town centre: A grey brick 5-storey tower with green copper sheathed cap. It was gutted in 1942 and the sails have also gone.

<5> Bedfordshire & Luton Archives and Records Service Documents, BLARS: MAT12/1, Tithe Map survey, 1822 (revised 1840) (Unpublished document). SBD10551.

Windmill marked at TL 0140 2177.

<6> Department of the Environment, 1976, DoE District of South Beds 7th List of Buildings of Special Architectural Interest, 4/34 (Unpublished document). SBD10852.

Brick sloping tower with domed cap. Late C18 or early C19. No sails. Single storey additional buildings at back.

<7> Old Dunstable: a collection of 101 pictures, p 62 (Bibliographic reference). SBD10633.

Image of The Old mill (with sails)

<8> Bedfordshire County Council, HER Slide Archive, 988 (Slide). SBD10508.

Colour image of the mill building

<9> Bedfordshire County Council, 1970 - 2000s, HER Photograph Archive, F809/32a-36a (Photograph). SBD10506.

Colour images of interior and exterior of mill, focussing on cap and ceiling joists.

<10> Unknown, Photograph of unknown origin (Photograph). SBD10631.

Black & white copies of images of mill

<11> Planning/Listed Building Application(s) Documentation, SB/LB/85/0037; 16/10/85 (Unpublished document). SBD10792.

Consent for demolition of and extensions and alterations to attached buildings.

<12> South Beds District Council, Buildings at Risk Survey, 1992 (Unpublished document). SBD12092.

Water ingress through badly fitting domed cap has led to severe deterioration of internal timbers. Only ground floor remains usable.

<13> Unspecified publication, Sea Cadets facing leaky roof setback (Newspaper Article). SBD10582.

Dunstable Sea Cadets are well and truly under water and are calling for help to fish them out.
The group, which is based at the Old Mill in West Street, Dunstable, recently spent thousands of pounds on restoration, only to find that their hard work could be washed down the drain if a leaky roof is not repaired.
The copper plates on the dome of the mill have come away, and recent heavy rain flooded all five floors of the listed building.
Over 30 cadets, aged from 12 to 18, use the base from which activities such as sailing, canoeing, rowing, engineering, communications and many more are organised.

<14> Dunstable Sea Cadet Corps, 1986, The Old Mill; The Ship Without Sails Appeal (Bibliographic reference). SBD12400.

There has been a mill on or near the same site at Dunstable since 1221, with the present Mill being built in 1839 by Richard Gutteridge.
Dunstable Tower Mill is a large tower mill of Caddington Grey Brick, 28ft diameter at the base with 3ft 6ins walls at the base and 2ft walls at the curb. The tower is unusual in that the first two floors are built vertically, the taper starting at second-floor level. This invites comparison with Houghton Conquest Mill, of similar shape but smaller. The mill is 58ft high to the top of the cap, which is domed and covered with copper. There was formerly a ball and stalk finial, and a scalloped wooden petticoar on the cap. The mill had four double shuttered patent sails and was winded by an eight-bladed fantail. Three pairs of stones were fitted, these being powered by gas engine in the 1920's. The mill was surrounded by many outbuildings, including a steam mill.
Mr Gutteridge sold the Mill in 1868 for £850 to William Rodwell and it was subsequently passed on to Frederick Simmons and then to his son Frank Simmons who, on his retirement, sold the Mill for use as Sea Cadet Headquarters.

<15> Dunstable Gazette, Yesteryear; 8/7/92 (Newspaper Article). SBD10607.

This photograph of the Old Mill in Dunstable's West Street was taken nearly half a century before the Sea Cadets bought it for a base in 1945.
The 58 feet-high mill, made of Caddington Grey brick, was built in 1839 on a site where there had been mills since at least the 13th century. Seven hundred years ago the site was owned by the wealthy Young family which also owned most of West Street. The family was in constant disagreement with the then Catholic-run Priory Church over church demands for a tithe from the windmill.
At one stage the Pope was asked to sort out the difficulties between the town's richest people. But conflicts continued throughout the 13th and 14th centuries.
In the mill's present incarnation, during the Second World War, volunteers with the Home Guard used the copper-topped tower as an observation point. In 1945 the highly successful Sea cadet unit purchased it from retired miller Frank Simmonds, who ran it until just before the war.
The date - 1942 - which adorns the front of the mill today refers to the year in which the Sea Cadets were formed. The Sea Cadets launched the base, known as the Ship Without Sails, in 1948.
The Charles Smy picture, taken in about 1900 and kept in Dunstable Town Council's archives, shows the mill with four bouble-shuttered sails. But the mystery is - no shutters can be seen. A clue may be the steam boiler in front of the building. Mr Smy may have been recording the installation of the steam boiler engine which kept the mill going when the wind died down.

<16> Dunstable Gazette, Dunstable in detail: The Old Mill; 10/7/1986 (Newspaper Article). SBD10607.

The Old Mill, which is nearly 60 feet tall, can be seen from West Street at the end of a short rural lane. It was built in 1839 as a windmill, on the site of several previous mills, and was used as a mill for almost 100 years - ending its working life as a steam mill in the late 1930s.
The Sea Cadets: On the front can be seen the date '1942', in very large numerals, which refers to the year that the Dunstable Sea Cadet Unit was officially formed by Admiral Sit Lionel Preston, K.C.B. In 1945 the Old Mill wasbought from the retired miller, Frank Simmons, and in 1948 it was named "Training Ship Lionel Preston" after the Admiral who set up the Unit. The building is threfore sometimes referred to as "The Ship without Sails"!
Over the years, the Cadets have added to the inside of their "ship" fixtures and fittings from various Navy Vessels. Hence, on entering the building today, one is immediately transported into a nautical world complete with a ships "galley", a radio room and much naval equipment. The floors (now called "decks", of course) are connected by genuine metal-rung ship's ladders, set at near vertical angles.

<19> Luton Today, www.lutontoday.co.uk, No Sails for Sea Cadets at windmill HQ (Website). SBD11973.

The windmill in West Street, Dunstable, was built in 1839 for local landowner Richard Gutteridge. It still stands there today, minus its sails, and is used as the splendind headquarters for Dunstable Sea Cadets.
Another, much older, windmill also once stood in West Street, but this was in the Meadway area.
The tower is about 60 feet high and contains five storeys. The sails were rmeoved in 1908 after the mill owner discovered that it was more reliable to grind corn using steam power. The chimney from the furnace for this can be seen in this pohot, taken when both wind and steam were being used. This all ceased just before the Second World War, when the building was used as an observation post by the Home Guard.
It became the headquarters of the Sea Cadets in 1948. Admiral Sir Lionel Preston, who moved to live in Dunstable (in High Street North) in 1935, had been instrumental in forming a Sea Cadets unit as part of the Pioneer Boys Club in 1942. And then the Sea Cadets eventually gained their own building it was named Training Ship Lionel Preston in his honour. Sir Lionel died in 1971.

<20> NMR/AMIE, HE NRHE Monument Inventory, 497392 (Index). SBD12367.

A brick wind powered tower mill that was constructed during the late 18th to early 19th century for the milling of cereal crops. The mill is circular in plan, tapering up from the second story to a domed metal covered cap. Five casement windows with brick arches and stone sills are situated on the southern side with a panel between the third and fourth windows. The entrance is located in a single story addition to the north east that continues around the north of the building. The mill then ceased to be wind powered from about 1930 and became a sea cadet HQ known as the Training Ship Lionel Preston.

<21> A A Bryan, 1998, Windmill gazetteer for England, p1 (Bibliographic reference). SBD12556.

A late 18th to early 19th century brick wind powered tower mill. Circular in plan, tapering up from the second story to a domed metal covered cap. Five casement windows with brick arches and stone sills are situated on the southern side with a panel between the third and fourth windows. The entrance is located in a single story addition to the north east that continues around the north of the building. The mill the ceased to be wind powered from about 1930, replaced by an engine until about 1940. The building then became a sea cadet HQ known as the Training Ship Lionel Preston. The mill was Listed at Grade II in October 1951

Protected Status:

• Conservation Area: Dunstable Conservation Area
• Listed Building (II) 4/34: Windmill

Monument Type(s):

• (Former Type) WINDMILL (Victorian to Early 20th Century - 1839 AD to 1930 AD)
• YOUTH CLUB (Mid 20th Century to 21st Century - 1948 AD to 2099 AD)

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events: None recorded

Sources and Further Reading

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