THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE - Lancing Windmill

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

Lancing Windmill at North Lancing c. 1875. Mr. Moseley (miller) stands at the door to the mill. Lancing Clump is in the distance.

LANCING WINDMILL (North Lancing)

Nearby Lancing has also boasted a windmill over the centuries. This was at Hoe Court in North Lancing around 1276-7. A windmill which Sir William Goring had built in the early 16th century on land in Hoe Lane still existed in 1592. During the next three centuries there appears to have always been a post windmill at North Lancing at the eastern end of the chalk pit at the top of Mill Road.

In the above photograph c. 1875 you can see the miller, Mr. Moseley standing in the doorway wearing his suit and cap. I am not quite sure who the other men are on the steps and standing at the side of the chalk pit. This chalk pit appears in the 1805 Lancing Enclosure Award...

...a public chalk pit for the use of the all proprietors and occupiers of lands and heriditaments in the Parish of Lancing to be by them expended or used for building and repairing of buildings and the manuring of lands in the said parish'

The chalk pit was eventually closed for good early in the 20th century after a person was killed while removing chalk and the practise was from then on illegal.

The group of trees on the skyline in the photograph is Lancing Clump (now better known as Lancing Ring now).

The windmill was last used in 1898.

This picture was a portrayal by a Victorian artist of the windmill at Hoe Court in nearby Lancing. The watercolour was by Alice Hobson in 1899.

c. 1900. The woodenToll Bridge atShoreham-by-Sea. Wooden bridge. Lancing College and Chapel are on the far right. Sussex Pad Hotel, houses and the Lancing Ring are on the far left..... and so is Lancing Windmill in distance.

Lancing Windmill in a dilapidated state by the early 1900s.

The windmill at North Lancing was demolished in 1905 but I understand that traces of the brick base are still to be seen in the turf.

On at least two occasions during the 19th century there was also a miller at South Lancing but I do not have any information on this.

Continue if you would like to read about Worthing's Further Contribution to the Windmill Scene (including Worthing Mill, Teville Mill, Cross Street Mill, Hide's Mill and the Navarino Windmills).

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THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.

E-mail: valeriemartin@findonvillage.com