THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com  created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

THE DECLINE IN MILLING

Copyright Valerie Martin 1999

I understand that by the 1870s the number of millwrights employed in the county of Sussex had drastically dwindled to about six, and the trade of milling was on a rapid decline.

In 1874, Edmund Sayer at the age of thirty-two years was married to his wife Charlotte. He was the miller solely in charge of the windmill on the hillside above Findon. He was also described as a beer retailer and baker. His brother Henry had been the brewer and beer house keeper at the Black Horse in the High Street at least since 1871.

It was during this year that William Wyatt appeared on the scene and presumably took over from Sayer during that year. Records dated 1878 document Wyatt as only a corn merchant.

The next miller was Luke Cheseman who was born around 1840. He lived at the mill with his 29-year-old wife, Adeline Tillah and in 1881 it is known they had a one-year-old son, William. John Sexton, Cheseman’s brother-in-law, resided with them and was also described as a miller, but as he was only some sixteen years of age, it can be assumed he was an apprentice.

I believe the above to be a true representation of how Findon Windmill and the Mill Cottages on the slope appeared in their heyday. It has been a fascinating exercise to reconstruct the area. With the well-known landmark of Chanctonbury Ring in the background, this must have been how the parishioners of Findon viewed the scene over a century ago. The silhouette of a windmill on a hillside can be as striking as a church tower but by its very nature and structure it is infinitely more transitory.

The last recorded Findon miller was in 1891, and was Edward Weller, born in Hailsham c.1855. He lived with his wife Lucy and by 1891 they had three children, Edward aged 4, Albert aged 3, and William aged one. James Bryling also resided with the household. He was the 18-year-old miller’s apprentice.

I think the old Windmill’s days had been numbered and it subsequently deteriorated and the last rodent deserted the dusty shell. The miller’s cart appears to have survived well into the 1890s when I have discovered it served its last useful purpose and was utilised as a coffin transporter and carried the dead to Findon churchyard.

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