Photo of Cley Windmill, a windmill near Cley next the Sea, Norfolk, eastern England.

Cley Windmill© Randusr836 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Windmills

120 historic windmills — post mills, tower mills and smock mills that survive as downland landmarks, several still turning on open days.

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The finest windmillsnational icons and local highlights

Iconic

Cley Windmill

Early 19th-century tower mill above the marsh at Cley, long since converted to celebrated guest rooms.

Norfolk

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Eling Tide Mill

One of two working tide mills left in the UK.

Hampshire

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Beacon Mill, Rottingdean

A black-tarred smock mill on the cliff-top down above Rottingdean, long the village emblem.

East Sussex

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Cobstone Windmill

White smock mill on the hill above Turville, familiar as the home of Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Buckinghamshire

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Heckington Windmill

The only surviving eight-sailed windmill in the country, a working brick tower producing wholemeal and white flour beside the station.

Lincolnshire

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Nether Alderley Mill

Overshot 16th-century watermill under a long stone roof near Alderley Edge, restored to working order by the National Trust.

Cheshire

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White Mill

Restored smock mill with its wooden machinery intact, on the edge of Sandwich, open on summer days.

Kent

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Windmill Hill Windmill

Largest post mill in Sussex, lottery-restored above Herstmonceux with its roundhouse, sweeps and machinery rebuilt.

East Sussex

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Barony Mill

A working 19th-century water mill at Birsay, the last in Orkney still grinding traditional bere barley into beremeal.

Orkney Islands

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Bursledon Windmill

Hampshire's only working windmill, with 1814 machinery.

Hampshire

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Chailey Heritage Windmill

White smock mill on Chailey Common, restored as a landmark and holding a small rural-life collection on summer days.

East Sussex

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Cheddleton Flint Mill

Twin waterwheels on the Caldon Canal that once ground flint for the pottery industry, a preserved working mill open to visitors.

Staffordshire

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Ewhurst Windmill

Tapering brick tower mill on the greensand ridge near Pitch Hill, a landmark for walkers though now a private house.

Surrey

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Herringfleet Smock Mill

The last working full-size marsh drainage windmill in Britain, a black-tarred smock mill demonstrated on the Waveney levels.

Suffolk

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High Salvington Windmill

A restored open-trestle post mill of around 1750 on the Downs edge above Worthing, milling on selected open days.

West Sussex

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Jack and Jill Windmills

A pair of restored windmills on the Downs above Clayton; Jill, a white post mill, still grinds flour on open days.

West Sussex

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Meopham Windmill

Rare six-sided smock mill standing on Meopham Green, a landmark on the road south of Gravesend.

Kent

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Nutley Windmill

Britain's only working open-trestle post mill, restored on the edge of Ashdown Forest and still turning on open days.

East Sussex

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Outwood Windmill

Post mill of 1665 on Outwood common, the oldest working windmill in England, still grinding on open days.

Surrey

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Pakenham Water Mill

A working Georgian watermill on the Black Bourn near Bury St Edmunds, milling flour with a tearoom on site.

Suffolk

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Pakenham Windmill

A working brick tower windmill near Bury St Edmunds, sail-turning partner to the village's watermill.

Suffolk

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Quainton Windmill

Tall brick tower mill above the village green at Quainton, restored to work under wind on some Sundays.

Buckinghamshire

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Reigate Heath Windmill

White post mill on Reigate Heath golf course, unique in England for having a working chapel fitted inside its roundhouse.

Surrey

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Rolvenden Windmill

Small post mill kept as a memorial in a garden at Rolvenden, an unusually complete survival.

Kent

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Sarre Windmill

Smock mill on the edge of the old Wantsum marshes at Sarre, restored to grind, with a bakery.

Kent

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Shipley Windmill

Hilaire Belloc's white smock mill, King's Mill, standing beside his former home at Shipley; a landmark on the Low Weald.

West Sussex

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Stansted Mountfitchet Windmill

A well-preserved tower mill of 1787 in the hilltop village of Stansted Mountfitchet, opened to visitors on advertised days.

Essex

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Stocks Mill

The tallest post mill in Kent, on the Isle of Oxney above the Rother Levels at Wittersham.

Kent

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Stone Cross Windmill

Brick tower mill restored to working order, grinding flour again on open days near the Pevensey Levels.

East Sussex

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Thelnetham Windmill

A restored 1819 tower windmill on the Norfolk border that grinds flour on open days, with a tearoom and granary.

Suffolk

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Union Mill

The tallest smock mill in England, white weatherboarded and still milling flour on the edge of Cranbrook.

Kent

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West Blatchington Windmill

An unusual hexagonal smock mill rising from tiered barns in Hove, painted by Constable in the 1820s. Run as a small museum, open on selected Sundays.

East Sussex

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Woodbridge Tide Mill

A rare working tide mill on the Deben quay, its wheel still turning to grind wholemeal flour on the tide.

Suffolk

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Woodchurch Windmill

White smock mill on the green at Woodchurch, rebuilt to turn again above the Weald.

Kent

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Wray Common Windmill

Tall brick tower mill on Wray Common east of Reigate, keeping its cap and sails as a converted landmark.

Surrey

More windmills to explore85

Windmills in Bedfordshire 3

Stevington Windmill

The only complete windmill left in Bedfordshire, an eighteenth-century post mill on the ridge above Stevington, restored for the Festival of Britain.

Stevington

Bromham Mill

A working eighteenth-century watermill on the Great Ouse three miles west of Bedford, with heritage displays and a picnic island.

Bromham

Stotfold Watermill

A restored working watermill and greenspace on the River Ivel at Stotfold, milling flour again after fire and rebuild.

Stotfold

Windmills in Buckinghamshire 4

Brill Windmill

Timber post mill of around 1680 on the common at the top of Brill hill, with wide views over the vale.

Brill

Pitstone Windmill

A National Trust place in Buckinghamshire.

Ivinghoe

Bradwell Windmill

Early 19th-century stone tower mill kept as a working museum within Milton Keynes at Old Bradwell.

Bradwell

Lacey Green Windmill

The oldest surviving smock mill in England, moved to the Chilterns ridge at Lacey Green and restored with its original machinery.

Lacey Green

Windmills in Cambridgeshire 9

Bourn Windmill

Reckoned the oldest surviving windmill in England, a weatherboarded open-trestle post mill of the 17th century on the hill west of Cambridge.

Bourn

Downfield Windmill, Soham

Working octagonal tower mill at Soham, rebuilt on an old smock base and still turning out stoneground flour on open days.

Soham

Stevens' Mill, Burwell

Grade II* tower mill at the heart of Burwell Museum, its upper floors climbed by guided tour for wide fen views.

Burwell

Stretham Windmill

Restored fen-edge tower mill near Ely, its cap and sails put back after long dereliction on the Isle above the Great Ouse.

Stretham

Wicken Windmill

Small restored smock mill in Wicken village near the famous fen, a slender white landmark above the sedge.

Wicken

Houghton Mill

A National Trust place in Cambridgeshire.

Houghton (Houghton)

Foster's Mill, Swaffham Prior

Working smock mill above Swaffham Prior grinding organic flour by wind, one of two mills that share the fen-edge ridge.

Swaffham Prior

Great Gransden Post Mill

One of the country's oldest post mills, restored on its trestle above the village and among the earliest to survive in England.

Great Gransden

Histon Windmill (Chivers' Mill)

Tall smock mill of 1808 at Impington near Histon, a well-preserved survivor once tied to the famous local jam works.

Histon

Windmills in Derbyshire 3

Cat and Fiddle Mill

A rare preserved Midlands-type post mill at Dale Abbey, one of only a handful left standing in the country.

Dale Abbey

Heage Windmill

The only working six-sailed stone tower windmill in England, restored to grind flour with sweeping views over the Derwent Valley.

Heage

Stainsby Mill

A National Trust place in Derbyshire.

Mansfield Woodhouse

Windmills in Essex 8

Aythorpe Roding Windmill

The largest post mill in Essex, restored to working order with a single-storey roundhouse and open on advertised days.

Aythorpe Roding

Bocking Windmill

A post mill with a two-storey roundhouse standing in Church Street, Bocking since 1721, opened by volunteers on advertised days.

Bocking

John Webb's Windmill

A Grade II* tower mill of 1804 on the edge of Thaxted, restored with its cap and sails and open on summer weekends.

Thaxted

Mountnessing Windmill

A Grade II* post mill near Brentwood, restored with its sails and open on the third Sunday afternoon of summer months.

Mountnessing

Rayleigh Windmill

A restored tower mill on Bellingham Lane housing a local museum, free to enter through the summer months.

Rayleigh

Bourne Mill

A National Trust place in Essex.

Colchester

Finchingfield Post Mill

The oldest windmill in Essex, built around 1756 above the village green and open on summer Sunday afternoons.

Finchingfield

Stock Windmill

A Grade II* tower mill of about 1804 at Stock, several floors of machinery intact and explained by guides on open days.

Stock

Windmills in Kent 6

Davison's Mill

Smock mill on the common at Stelling Minnis, worked into the 1970s and kept in working order.

Stelling Minnis

Herne Mill

Smock mill above Herne, among the best preserved in Kent and still able to grind on open days.

Herne

Chillenden Windmill

Open-trestle post mill of 1868, one of the last of its kind, standing alone in fields near Sandwich.

Chillenden

West Kingsdown Windmill

Smock mill moved to Kingsdown and restored, standing white on the crest of the North Downs.

West Kingsdown

Willesborough Windmill

White smock mill of 1869 beside the motorway at Ashford, restored and open with a small tearoom.

Ashford

Draper's Mill

Smock mill on the edge of Margate, restored by a local trust and open on summer Sundays.

Margate

Windmills in Leicestershire 3

Wymondham Windmill

Restored five-storey tower mill on the eastern Wolds, now a visitor attraction with craft studios and a cafe.

Wymondham

Kibworth Harcourt Windmill

The last surviving post mill in Leicestershire, an 18th-century timber mill owned by the SPAB and open on set days.

Kibworth Harcourt

Ullesthorpe Mill

Early-19th-century brick tower mill in the south-Leicestershire village of Ullesthorpe, a local landmark.

Ullesthorpe

Windmills in Lincolnshire 9

Cogglesford Watermill

Working 18th-century watermill on the River Slea at Sleaford, milling flour on event days on a site used for over a thousand years.

Sleaford

Ellis Mill

The last survivor of the mills that once lined Lincoln's western ridge, a restored four-sailed tower mill open to visitors.

Lincoln

Sibsey Trader Windmill

Six-sailed English Heritage tower mill of 1877 near Boston, still grinding flour on windy days with a tearoom and shop below.

Sibsey

Waltham Windmill

Six-sailed mill of 1880 south of Grimsby, all six sails intact, set in a park with a rural life museum, miniature railway and cafe.

Waltham

Alford Windmill

Five-sailed 1837 tower mill on the edge of the Wolds market town, still milling with a tearoom and shop in the yard.

Alford

Maud Foster Windmill

Towering five-sailed 1819 mill on Boston's Maud Foster Drain, one of Britain's tallest working mills, climbable to all seven floors.

Boston

Dobson's Mill

Distinctive five-sailed tower mill with an ogee cap at Burgh le Marsh; its sails and cap were lost in a 2020 storm and it now stands under restoration.

Burgh le Marsh

Moulton Windmill

The tallest tower windmill in the country, a restored nine-storey giant near Spalding with a granary tearoom and shop.

Moulton

Wrawby Postmill

The last working post mill in Lincolnshire, a rare timber mill near Brigg turned to the wind on its central post on open days.

Wrawby

Windmills in Norfolk 9

Berney Arms Windmill

Tall marsh mill deep in the Halvergate levels, reachable only on foot, by rail or by boat.

Reedham

Denver Windmill

Tall black-capped Fenland tower mill near Downham Market, restored to working order.

Denver

Great Bircham Windmill

Restored five-storey tower mill of 1846, one of the few Norfolk mills you can climb to the cap.

Great Bircham

Stow Mill

Trim brick tower mill on the coast road near Mundesley, restored with a boat-shaped Norfolk cap.

Paston

Thurne Dyke Windpump

Gleaming white drainage mill on the Thurne, one of the most photographed sights on the Broads.

Thurne

Billingford Windmill

Handsome red-brick tower mill on the common near Scole, the last Norfolk corn mill to work by wind.

Billingford

Hardley Windmill

Restored drainage mill and visitor centre on the Wherryman's Way, reachable by riverside moorings.

Hardley

Stracey Arms Windpump

Roadside drainage mill of 1883 on the Acle marshes, open through spring and summer.

Tunstall

Sutton Windmill

Nine-storey tower mill near the Broads, said to be the tallest of its kind in the country.

Sutton

Windmills in Nottinghamshire 3

Tuxford Windmill

Restored 1820 tower mill grinding organic flour on the edge of the old Great North Road market town.

Tuxford

Green's Windmill

Restored working tower mill of the mathematician-miller George Green, grinding flour above Sneinton with a science centre alongside.

Sneinton

North Leverton Windmill

Working subscription tower mill of 1813, open on Saturdays and still grinding its own flour.

North Leverton

Windmills in Oxfordshire 3

North Leigh Windmill

Standing 18th-century tower mill on the edge of North Leigh, a landmark on the Cotswold-fringe skyline.

North Leigh

Wheatley Windmill

Eighteenth-century octagonal tower mill above Wheatley, restored to working order and opened free on a handful of Sundays.

Wheatley

Great Haseley Windmill

One of the largest stone tower mills in Britain, built around 1760 and restored to working order in 2013.

Great Haseley

Windmills in Suffolk 3

Saxtead Green Post Mill

A gleaming white weatherboarded post mill of 1796, an English Heritage landmark you can climb on Saxtead Green.

Saxtead

Buttrum's Mill

A tall six-storey tower windmill of 1836 with a working fantail, standing restored on the edge of Woodbridge.

Woodbridge

Stanton Post Mill

A restored 17th-century post mill run by volunteers, one of the Suffolk Mills Group's working survivors.

Stanton

Windmills elsewhere in North West England 3

Lytham Windmill

Restored white tower mill of 1805 on Lytham green, now a small museum and the town's best-known emblem.

Lancashire

Marsh Mill

Towering restored 1794 tower mill at Thornton, one of the tallest in England, with a visitor centre.

Lancashire

Stretton Watermill

Restored working 16th-century corn mill near Malpas, still grinding on open days by its millpond.

Cheshire

Windmills elsewhere in South East England 6

Cross-in-Hand (New Mill)

Grade II*-listed post mill on a two-storey roundhouse, one of the highest-sited windmills in Sussex, now largely private.

East Sussex

Halnaker Windmill

A brick tower mill on the Downs above the chalk holloway known as Halnaker's tree tunnel; reached on foot.

West Sussex

Bembridge Windmill

A National Trust place in Isle of Wight.

Isle of Wight

Shalford Mill

A National Trust place in Surrey.

Surrey

Winchester City Mill

A National Trust place in Hampshire.

Hampshire

Argos Hill Mill

Post mill near Mayfield, under long restoration and opened to visitors on selected days through the year.

East Sussex

Windmills elsewhere in South West England 3

Ashton Windmill

A well-preserved eighteenth-century stone tower mill with cap and sails, standing on a rise near Chapel Allerton on the Levels.

Somerset

Wilton Windmill

Restored 1821 tower mill above the Kennet and Avon Canal near Great Bedwyn, the only working windmill in Wessex, milling flour on open days.

Wiltshire

Stembridge Tower Mill

A National Trust place in Somerset.

Somerset

Windmills elsewhere in West Midlands 4

Broad Eye Windmill

Seven-storey stone tower mill of 1796 beside the Sow in Stafford, the tallest windmill in the Midlands, built from stone of the demolished Shire Hall.

Staffordshire

Chesterton Windmill

A striking Grade I stone tower mill of 1632 raised on six arches above the Fosse Way, England's earliest surviving working tower mill.

Warwickshire

Napton Windmill

A hilltop tower mill landmark above Napton-on-the-Hill and the Oxford Canal, visible for miles across the Feldon (privately owned).

Warwickshire

Danzey Green Windmill

Early 19th-century post mill rescued and rebuilt in working order at the Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings.

Worcestershire

Windmills elsewhere in England 3

Photo of Cromer Windmill, a windmill near Ardeley, Hertfordshire, eastern England.

Windmills in Scotland 2

Barry Mill

Working 19th-century meal watermill cared for by the NTS near Carnoustie.

Angus

Norse Mill & Kiln, Shawbost

Restored thatched Norse-style horizontal water mill and drying kiln, free to visit on a short walk.

Na h-Eileanan Siar

Windmills in Wales 1

Melin Llynnon

The last working windmill in Wales, a restored 1775 tower mill at Llanddeusant grinding stoneground organic flour and open to visitors from spring to autumn.

Llanddeusant