Great Haseley Windmill Restoration

All wrapped up for Christmas

2011-12-22T12:30:00.000-08:00

The mill is now slightly more conspicuous, with a full scaffold and roof. This will help with the continuing repointing and replacement of the outermost lintel sections. Further down the line, the protection of the scaffold will be crucial when work starts on the cap.

With our first proper close-up look at the upper section of the tower, it is apparent that the masonry on the south side has suffered quite badly from frost. Presumably, this type of damage prompted the rendering of the upper part of the tower, but we hope not to resort to that!

Meanwhile, during the bad weather, we have been in the workshop repairing the wallower and making replacement sash windows. There has also been some repair work for us at nearby Wheatley windmill, so, all in all, a busy end to the year.

Merry Christmas, and see you in 2012.

Unearthing evidence

2011-09-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

The ground at the base of the tower has needed lowering for some time. A banking of soil, with nettles and even an elder tree, had somehow accumulated. To assist with working on the exterior masonry, this ground has been dug/raked back to a more appropriate level. This revealed a nice threshold at the eastern door, made from one half of a millstone, complete with outer band!

Cement and centipedes

2011-09-06T13:40:00.000-07:00

After the last post, we have been continuing with the replacement of rotten lintels on the inside of the mill. These are now complete, leaving the outermost member of each lintel to be dealt with in the future, pending scaffolding.

Recently, we have turned our attention to exterior masonry. Where to begin?! The original lime mortar, in places, has crumbled quite badly. This appears to have been repointed on at least three occasions. Once, and presumably some time ago, with lime mortar of a more coarse texture. Secondly, with a brown/grey cement, and lastly with an almost black cement. The latter is most prevalent around the base of the tower, seemingly in an effort to weatherproof this region of damaged stone.

Showing original mortar and patches of flaky grey/brown cement, covered with lichen

Unfortunately, cement does not breathe as lime mortar does, and so any water which gets in, tends to be trapped. This is quite clear when chasing out the cement: it is covered with lichen and the original mortar behind it is dark in colour, crumbly and damp, with centipedes, woodlice and even worms living in the cracks. Ironically, the original, un-repointed lime is in a much better state, with no lichen or beasties.

The effect of trapped moisture is also shown by frost damage to much of the stone which had been smeared over with cement.

So begins a labour of love...chasing out the cement and loose mortar, before repointing with lime and, where necessary, filling in stone where the frost damage is at its worst. Give us a day or two (cough!....)

After chasing out, the stonework is more defined.

Lots of things being finished at the moment....

2011-07-21T14:12:00.000-07:00

The newly-refurbished boulter on the stone floor is looking splendid, seen here with the cover on...

and with the cover off.

Also looking good is the bin floor; the sycamore panelling has been trimmed neatly with douglas fir strips, and capping strips added to the bin dividers. Consider the 'i's dotted and the 't's well and truly crossed. One day I'll buy a fish eye lens to show these views properly!

Up on the dust floor, the very poorly wallower has been removed from the main shaft, for major reconstructive surgery back at the workshop. This freed up some room around the shaft, so the last area of flooring could be joisted and decked out. My knees will never be the same again! The 'hole' in the floor is to allow the sack hoist drum to bear against the underside of the wallower, thus giving a friction drive. Much of the mechanism for the sack hoist was absent, so we are extrapolating from what we have seen on the stone floor (where there are similar mechanisms to drive the boulter).

Unfortunately, over the years, water seems to have found its way into the main shaft, probably where it was seeping through the rotten wallower. So, there is a rot pocket in the main shaft which will need repairing. We need a very solid structure here, against which we can wedge the wallower in place.

And finally, the curved stairs to the dust floor are finished, complete with handrail. Luxury, compared to a tied-on ladder.

Yet more lintel repairs

2011-07-21T13:47:00.000-07:00

The lintels above the south doorway, on the stone floor, were in dire need of replacement. Here, the middle and outermost pieces have been removed, these were badly affected by rot / worm. The innermost piece was relatively unscathed, so we are keeping this, with the help of a bit of preservative.

The replacement middle lintel in situ.

The original and replacement outer lintels. Note the 'slight' decay of the original - good job they were over-engineered to start with.

About to lift up the outer lintel prior to installation. Next job - masonry repairs. Deja vu ! Still, at least we're out in the open for this one - cue bad weather.......

Boulter, the next stage.....

2011-07-09T09:29:00.000-07:00

Quite some time ago, the remains of the boulter were repaired, and new panels constructed around them. Now, we have a clear area on the stone floor in which the refurbished boulter can be installed. With some tweaking to account for a dished floor and sagging feed hopper, the cabinet was in!

Working from the remains of the original boulter and floor, the layout of the internal hoppers could be deduced. This gave three outlets, for the fine flour, coarse flour and bran respectively. This photo shows new elm panels being fitted, to recreate the original hoppers. At the top of the photo, the original feed hopper can be seen. The drive to the boulter cylinder passes through the cabinet just beneath this.

And finally, a view from beneath the stone floor, showing the newly cut outlets; fine to coarse from right to left.

The next task is to reinstate the drive mechanism for the boulter. Yet more things on which to bang our heads. The ideal stature for a miller must have been about 4ft 6in.

And now, it's time for the gallery.....

2011-06-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

The gallery rails have now been restored/repaired, and new floorboards fitted.

Beneath the gallery, rebated panels both box-in the main shaft and act as grain bin dividers. Some of the original boards were saved, although, sadly, many were so wormy that they were beyond help. We have had to be careful with clearance around the main shaft, as it shows some eccentricity when turned. This could be due to distortion of the shaft or inaccuracies in the shaping of its flats.

The original timbers around the bin floor walls showed evidence of fixings for cladding, presumably to protect the grain from damp. We have started reinstating this cladding with sycamore. The individual boards are tapered slightly to account for the inward lean of the walls; coopering on a grand scale! Unfortunately, the stonework is 'slightly' irregular (sorry masons) so the inward lean is continually varying. Makes for a challenge.

More masonry work and cogging the crown wheel

2011-05-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

The North bin floor window has suffered in the same way as it's southern counterpart - invasion by tree roots causing the mortar to crumble. The retained moisture has also caused frost damage to some of the stones. This picture shows the stonework cleared back, to give a reasonably sound starting point for repairs.

As a mental break from the never-ending stones and lime mortar, some recogging of the crown wheel. Good for another hundred years!......

NEWS UPDATE. Mill is open on Sunday 15th May

2011-05-05T11:29:00.000-07:00

As part of National Mills Weekend, we will be opening the mill to visitors on Sunday 15th May from 11am until 5pm. Please do come and have a look.

In terms of access, your best bet is to park in Great Haseley, if coming by car, then approach the mill via Back Way and then the footpath/track which leads directly to the mill.

Please be aware that as this is still a 'live' project, the site may not be suitable for the very young or infirm. Unfortunately, there are no facilities at the mill, but hey, that's all part of the charm!......

Putting in the good bits....

2011-05-05T10:57:00.000-07:00

They have been waiting in storage for some time, but the two sets of stone furniture were finally installed today. New tuns, horses, hoppers and shoes. Hang on, it looks like a mill suddenly.

Stone floor with new stone furniture added

Closer view of North stone furniture

North stone furniture showing tun, horse, hopper and shoe

Also coming out of storage today was the repaired staircase, leading from the ground floor to the stone floor.
Fortunately, it fits!.. Phew.

Repaired staircase being fitted

No posts for a while, but we have been busy

2011-05-04T20:14:00.000-07:00

Note to self - must remember to bring camera to mill....

Anyway, the weeks have gone by and progress has been made on masonry repairs, boarding out the dust floor and removing the brake wheel for repair.

South bin floor window. This used to be home to an elder tree. The roots had caused widespread damage to the mortar, meaning quite extensive rebuilding of the surrounding stonework. We assume the sill was sloped to assist grain flow.

Dust floor under construction, seen from below. The weather has resulted in the boards shrinking slightly, even though the timber was kiln dried! Can we have some rain please.

Windshaft, with brake wheel and brake removed.

The windshaft bearing has 'sunk' into the supporting beam. We recently carried out a repair on the exact same problem at Lacey Green windmill.

Trimming the dust floor for the staircase

Remember our nice clear chimney in the winter? Persistent devils, these rooks.

Beam me up Scotty

2011-03-03T19:53:00.000-08:00

No posting on here for a while, but we have been busy!

The top, or 'dust', floor was totally absent, so new beams and joists have been made at the workshop. Lifting of the large beams into the mill was originally going to be carried out with a crane. However, soft ground and access problems led to a decision to manually hoist the beams through the northern bin floor window. Cue strong, cold northerly wind !.....

The ends of the beams were pre-cut into splice joints. With the splice ends removed, this gave a short enough length of beam to manoeuver inside the tower.

Much re-hitching and shuffling later....the beams and splices were finally in place.

Next job will be to fit the joists into the housings which have already been cut.

Prior to this, we have also been fitting replacement lintels to both bin floor windows. This has involved a lot of masonry work, making good the stonework above the rotten lintels - much of which had fallen out.

North beam and splice in position prior to final fixing

Lintels and brass monkeys

2010-11-25T21:33:00.000-08:00

This should kill the death watch beetle

A couple of very cold days at the mill saw us resurrecting one of the two fireplaces. Very warming, although if there's too much west in the wind direction, we end up nicley smoked by the end of the day. We must get around to cleaning the other chimney out, on the opposite side of the tower, although it could be a never ending battle against the crows and their deposits of nesting material.

Mid and inner lintels installed

The two new lintels have been installed and the stonework above made good. Sighs of relief all round.... Looking at the window above, the lintels there could be even more 'fun'.

Supports for the crown wheel

2010-11-24T20:40:00.000-08:00

In order to preserve the crown wheel, seen here from the stone floor, we are adding some extra bracing. These are being let-in to the main shaft, although the knots seem perfectly positioned to hamper these efforts. The angle of the knots shows that the tree, from which the shaft was made, is upside-down in the mill.

New lintels for south stone floor window

2010-11-04T21:39:00.000-07:00

New middle lintel member in place

The old interior lintel member, in decayed condition

The lintels above the south bin floor window would have comprised three members. These have badly decayed, as in keeping with the other timbers on this, the exposed, side of the mill. We have started on replacement of these lintels. This will give some much needed support to the stonework above, which is in a somewhat precarious condition.

Flooring begins!.....

2010-10-21T19:19:00.000-07:00

We had joist about had enough of fitting them, there was no joistification for anymore..

Finished joists on west of bin floor

At last, the bin floor joists are all in place and some floorboards have been fitted. The scaffolding will be removed / adapted as we work our way across. It will be nice not to have to tiptoe across joists for a change.

Drum restoring, and flooring

2010-09-16T11:31:00.000-07:00

Sack hoist drive drum

New pieces let-in

Drive drums for boulters

A mixture of on and off-site work since the last post. Off-site we have started to restore the drive drum for the sack hoist. This has been affected by woodworm but there is plenty of 'meat' left in it. The worst bits have been cut away and new pieces let in. Its a similar story with the drive drums for the boulters. These are also being repaired, backed up with a layer of plywood to support the fragile structure. (This won't be visible when completed). Meanwhile, on-site work continues on the replacement bin floor joists - the original millwrights seem to have made-do with what material was available - so each joist housing has its own peculiarities - very time consuming to refit.

On tenter hooks, and a rare weather phenomenon

2010-09-02T12:47:00.000-07:00

The new steel yards, welded to a cranked shape, are being set up with the tentering gear. These mechanisms would allow the gap between the stones to be minutely adjusted, according to the speed of rotation of the sails. The layout has been deduced from evidence of the remaining parts of the originals.

Meanwhile, work is progressing on the new joists for the bin floor. Also, the stonework around the spliced beam ends on this floor is being reinstated.

We were treated to a 'fire rainbow' today - a coloured arc in the sky caused by light passing through ice crystals in high level cloud. I think the proper term is a circumhorizontal arc - quite a rare phenomenon at these latitudes.

More splices - bin floor this time

2010-07-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

The southern beam ends on the bin floor had gone the same way as those on the stone floor. The remains were more like compost than timber, with a few birds nests thrown in for good measure. Splices had been cut and today they were lifted up and we started to fit them.

South-east beam end on the bin floor

South bed stone hoisted back up

2010-06-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

After a bit of scaffold tweaking, we were able to lift the south bed stone up to the stone floor today. Not easy, even with modern lifting tackle. Must have been fun in the old days! An interesting filler has been used in a pit in this stone - looks like it's lead.

North stones back in their rightful place

2010-06-01T21:45:00.000-07:00

The North stones are now set up, with the drive gear all in place and a new kerb installed.

A new door...

2010-04-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

The original door to the bin floor has been absent for some time. The opening had been blocked up with timber and wire mesh. To improve the weatherproofing of the mill, a new 'stable' door has been made. This was fitted today, with the surrounding frame assembled on site and fixed to the stone. Long term - this will help with access for long timbers and so on...

Stone floor; boards, joists and discrepancies

2010-03-17T21:19:00.000-07:00

With the Hurst frame complete, work has been proceeding on the main stone floor, inbetween other tasks! This hole is for the south pair of stones, which will be reinstated once the floor is finished. The boards adjacent to the tower wall will be removeable, giving a space through which the stones can be hoisted.

The joists to the east and west side of the stone floor have had to be replaced. Each of these joists has one end set into a socket in the stone wall and the other housed into the Hurst frame This is a view looking up at the western joists, from the main door. For reasons not clear at this stage, the Hurst frame beam seen here is significantly lower than its opposite number. We will have to pack up under the floor boards at this end to take out some of this discrepancy, otherwise the stone floor will have rather a 'unique' shape.

A bit of a fiddle with the new bolter cylinder

2010-02-03T19:44:00.000-08:00

The new bolter cylinder is coming along. An elm spindle has been shaped to a hexagonal cross-section, and the original ironwork has been fitted at each end. This was a tricky job, if only we had a 16 inch square drill bit! With the iron bands driven up and everything eventually snug, the spokes could be added. Three holes at the appropriate spacing (dredged up the old school geometry from the memory banks!), then the spokes were driven through to give, effectively, six spokes. The longitudinal rails will then be added (the first can be seen at the bottom of the photo).

The 'crank' in the tail end ironwork seems to correspond with wear marks on the original cabinet at this point. We assume some sort of reciprocating mechanism was used to help feed the bran through the chute at the end of the bolter, to prevent it clogging up.

Bolter frame and cabinet

2010-01-18T18:18:00.000-08:00

The bolter frame and cabinet are almost complete. Original pieces have been incorporated as much as possible. Here you can see the original back panel (after some repair) with the new frame and panelling. The original bearing will support the driven end of the cylinder.

The new bolter will be installed in the mill at a later date, once the nearby flooring and surrounding areas are sorted out.

Stairway to heaven

2009-12-16T19:52:00.000-08:00

The staircase from the ground floor to the stone floor was first thought to be beyond help. However, when removed from the mill, it was found to be in slightly better condition than suspected. Work has been going on to make a new staircase, incorporating as much of the original as possible. The curved sides were created using layers of elm glued together whilst clamped around a 'former'.

Fixing the staircase back to the mill could be interesting; the originall wooden blocks set into the stone seem to have been put in the wrong place. We shall see!.....

Restoration of the bolter

2009-11-13T17:41:00.000-08:00

The bolter is badly decayed. Part of the original cabinet has been preserved and the remainder is being remade around it - using the original as a pattern. A new spindle is also being turned and shaped, with the original ironwork to be set in at each end.

The bolter cabinet, the back panel will be reused

Threading the eye of the needle

2009-11-11T22:00:00.000-08:00

The eastern Hurst frame beam, to support the stone floor, has been morticed and was ready to go into the mill. The 'easiest' way in was via the southern window. This had been filled in with block and brickwork some years ago. So, this was demolished and replaced with wooden shuttering. After a bit of modification to the internal scaffolding, we were ready for hoisting...

The beam almost in position (rebate should be uppermost)

Hurst frame splices going in...

2009-10-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

This is the south-western splice being lowered into place - the recess in the wall has already been cleaned up and a bed of brick/slate set in place.

The other splice, showing the resin bonded joint and bolts. The recess in the wall will be made good with stone and lime mortar.

At last, we now have a solid base to the Hurst frame from which we can build.

Hurst frame reconstruction

2009-09-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

The Hurst frame which supports the stone floor is being partially reconstructed. The original eastern beam is laying on top of the replacment, which will be morticed to match. In the foreground are other new members which will be shaped to form the Hurst frame.

Rotten beam ends

2009-08-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

Started work on the Hurst frame beams. The ends of the main transverse beams are set directly into the stone tower. The southern ends of both beams have virtually disappeared under the combined action of damp and boring insects. These are to be replaced; the rotten beam ends will be cut off and new pieces 'spliced' into place. This also involves a lot of stone work - raking out of the old cavity in the wall, creating a firm 'bed' for the new splice then making good.

The beam end, a lot of death watch beetle damage...

Preparing the beam for the splice joint

South stones lowered

2009-07-17T18:24:00.000-07:00

The south pair of stones

The south pair of stones were in fairly good condition, with plenty of thickness left on the bedstone and runner. The plan was to lower the stones to the ground floor level, taking weight off the poor old beams and freeing up space for renewal of the stone floor.

Years of rust and pigeon deposits had resulted in the runner stone and its drive mechanism seizing together. After the application of chain blocks, scaffold tubes, rope, sweat and some cursing, the stone was finally freed and lowered, quickly (cough!) followed by the bed stone.

"ground floor - haberdashery, mens fashion and stones...."

And so it begins.......

2009-07-16T18:50:00.000-07:00

The 'before' shot! Hopefully in a few years there will be an 'after' shot with quite dramatic improvements.

Work has started on the restoration of Great Haseley windmill. The first job is not very pleasant - clearing out the masses of accumulated pigeon poo and the timber which is too far gone for preservation. Some of the more intact parts of the gearing will be recovered back to our workshop for attention.