Helen Stephenson's Keston Pictures

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Keston is a village located between Hayes and Downe within the London Borough of Bromley.
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I visited Keston armed with a camera during the London Open House Weekend in September, 2000 as the Keston Windmill was open to the public that weekend, and what was even better, entrance was free! The War Memorial is virtually opposite the Windmill, so while I was there, I crossed the road and pointed a camera at it, although I'm afraid that the white stone of the War Memorial hasn't photographed very well on colour negative. I think I'll have to return with slide film and try again!

The information reproduced below is copied from the handout sheet that the London Open House guide was distributing to visitors:

KESTON WIMDMILL FACTSHEET

Keston Windmill is the oldest surviving windmill in Kent and is situated on Heathfield Road to the south of the village of Keston and near to the ponds of the same name.

The top of the mill is over 450 feet above sea level and has a commanding view over the countryside to the west, the source of the prevailing wind. The structure is a Post Mill based on a roundhouse (brick built with a timber roof) and dates from around 1716. The whole of the upper part of the mill rested on a massive oak centre post rising out of the roundhouse and was rotated by the miller in order to ensure that the sails faced the wind. Failure to do this could result in damage to the building and, in severe cases, complete destruction.

Such a wind hit the mill in 1878 and damaged the sails. Part of one was broken off and, as a precautionary measure, its opposite number was shortened in order to maintain balance. This explains the strange appearance of the sail stocks. Re-starting business was uneconomic but the mill has been restored twice since then. However, the sails were not replaced on the stocks as they would cause undue strain on the structure.

The body compirses three floors, the top for grain and the other two for the milling machinery. A pair of stones can be seen at second floor level - the bedstone and the runnerstone. The latter was driven from below by the great spur wheel in the ceiling of the first floor. This had wooden teeth to avoid the risk of sparks being produced by contact between moving metal parts.

The Process of Milling

Corn was taken by sack hoist to the top of the mill and placed in the grain bin.
The grain then went through a chute to the hopper above the millstone.
Grain trickled from the hopper to the feed shoe which fed the particles onto the centre of the runnerstone.
Only this stone revolved and there was no contact with the bedstone below although the gap was minute and was controlled to vary the production of meal.
As the grain was ground it was expelled around the edge of the stone.
Meal fell into the meal spout and finally to the bin on the floor below.

Other Mills

Rotation of the main body of the mill was a big undertaking and the next development was to fix the sails to a cap at the very top of the mill and only this rotated. This was done automatically by the action of a fantail* on the opposite side of the cap to the sails. A wooden-bodied mill of this type was called a Smock Mill whilst later developments led to the Tower Mill where the body was constructed of brick or stone.

* Fantails had been tried on Post Mills but with varying success.

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Last Revised: 25^th December, 2000.