History of Pitstone Windmill

When the Pitstone story began

The date of 1627 is the oldest of several dates found inscribed in the woodwork inside the mill building. However, as structures like this would have undergone frequent repairs it is thought that the mill was built earlier than this and that this inscription may refer to the date of a refurbishment.

Whether or not this assertion is true, the date of 1627 still makes Pitstone Windmill several years older than the similar post mill at Bourn in Cambridgeshire.

Learn more about the post mill at Bourn

A lucrative asset

The windmill was used from its earliest days to mill grain grown around the nearby villages into flour. Village mills like this one were once an essential resource within a community so it is no surprise that the mill has a history of providing a lucrative income for its owners and tenants.

Although the industrial revolution began to undermine the importance of a local mill through the advent of mass production, investment in the Pitstone Windmill continued.

During the 19th century much of the machinery was replaced by the Canal Company, who owned the mill until 1842, or by Francis Beesley, who sold it for £400 in 1874 to the third Earl Brownlow, owner of the nearby Ashridge Estate.

Lord Brownlow subsequently let it to a local farmer, Hawkins of Pitstone Green Farm, who ran a successful business from it and oversaw further repairs in 1895.