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Summary

A windmill

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1195216: PAIGNTON WINDMILL
• Listed Building (II) 1195216: PAIGNTON WINDMILL
• Listed Building (II) 1195216: PAIGNTON WINDMILL

Other References/Statuses

• Torbay HER: MTO8886

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• WINDMILL (Abandoned, XVIII to Unknown - 1775 AD? (Post))
• OBSERVATION POST (World War II - 1939 AD to 1945 AD (Between))

Full description

Torbay HER record (SMR record). SDV361984.

This mill probably dates from the late eighteenth century. On 4th June 1829 it was advertised to let in the Flying Post; the lessee was to repair the gear and insure the mill against fire. In an illustration of 1833 the mill appeared complete with sails and a miller's cottage beside it, but it was ruinous less than 30 years later. 'Windmill' is marked on the 1840 tithe apportionment (DR 453) and Windmill Field on the tithe map (DRO 454). It was brought into use as an observation post during the Second World War. The four-storey tower can be seen on Windmill Hill off the road from Paignton to Marldon and is used as a store. It is one of five windmill towers to survive in the Torbay district and one of only nine surviving, to a greater or lesser extent in the whole county and was probably built with others in the district during the Napoleonic Wars.[1] [2]. It ceased operation as a windmill by about 1860 [3]

It is built of purple limestone rubble with local breccia dressings and is about 30 feet high with an internal diameter of 15 feet at the base, tapering to 10 feet at the top; the walls are 4 feet thick at the base. The ground floor has one wide doorway on the side facing the land with breccia voussoirs and there is some internal evidence of a second doorway on the opposite side. Other openings have breccia lintels or voussoirs. The first floor has two opposed loading doors and two windows. The second floor had four windows. The third storey has two windows. The nearby mill cottage is still occupied. It is marked on the 1:50,000 Ordnance Survey map and as 'Windmill Hill' on the 1:25,000.[4]

In 1999 the interior of the mill was complete empty - no floors or machinery survive. The windows are currently boarded up.[5][6]

<1> Minchinton, W., 1977, Windmills of Devon, pp.30-31, 53 (Monograph). SDV362573.

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<2> Moysey, C.F., 1940-41, Devon & Cornwall Notes and Queries, p.176-177 (Article in Serial). SDV362440.

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<3> Watts, M., 1993, Proposed Conversion of the Windmill, Windmill Lane, Paignton (* Torbay Report - Interim/Research/Specialist). SDV362169.

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<4> Department of National Heritage, 1993, Revised List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, p.152; 1947-1/2/131 (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV362109.

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<6> Fiorato, V.J., 1999, Fernacombe Windmill (Personal Comment). SDV362167.

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<7> Fiorato, V.J., 1999, Paignton Windmill, T78,79 (Photograph). SDV362168.

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Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7798 - Site visit by Veronica Fiorato - October 1999

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