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A proposal to reconstruct Ashcombe Windmill was granted planning consent by Lewes District Council at their December 2007 planning meeting.

The six sweep post mill was destroyed during a gale in 1916 but her appearance is well recorded in photographs and these should allow the reconstruction to be almost indistinguishable from the original.

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Three of the four original footings are still in place and number of shutter cranks and other iron parts can still be found lying in the field some 90 years after her collapse. The survival of the footings has allowed a good estimate to be made of the dimensions of the mill and these are very similar to Jill Windmill at Clayton. Ashcombe is believed to be the work of the same millwright, Samuel Medhurst of Lewes, who also worked on Cross in Hand and Windmill Hill mills.

Scale drawing of Ashcombe Mill reconstruction by James Tasker
Scale drawing of Ashcombe Mill reconstruction by James Tasker

Accommodation will be incorporated within the mill mound so that it is not visible from outside the site. One pair of stones will be installed but the sweeps will principally be used to generate electricity, with the surplus being exported to the grid. An independent study estimates that the mill will produce a maximum of around 35 kW (45hp) in a strong wind which gives an annual output of around 16,500 kW hours, the electricity consumption of around 3 houses. The export of electricity is a planning requirement which stems from renewable energy policies and the location of the site in the future South Downs National Park. Using the mill to generate electricity should also ensure that she is kept turning for some 70% of the time.

The archaeology, which was presumed to have been destroyed by ploughing in the shallow topsoil over the chalk, is remarkably intact and will be preserved below the floor of the roundhouse, where it will be accessible for viewing.

Disabled access to the body of the mill will be available.

Site of Ashcombe Mill - Photo : Philip Hicks

The design work is likely to take around one year and a start should be made on site at the beginning of 2009.

Text : James Tasker

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