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WINDMILL
FOR SALE
standing in approx 2 acres of
land, great sea and countryside views
Auction by Savills on May 22nd
2008, guide price £350,000 to £450,000
www.savills.co.uk or
contact
home@mappletonmill.co.uk
Windmill Restoration / Conversion Project
2005 / 06 / 07 / 08
Mappleton is a small village of approximately 20 houses, a beautiful
church, a garage, Village Hall, 2 or 3 farms and what was a
derelict windmill, on the Holderness coast in East Yorkshire. Mainly due
to the close proximity of the coast road from Hornsea down to Withernsea,
it has in recent years been saved from toppling into the North Sea by
large scale sea defense works. The cliffs all along this coast are made
from clay that is no match for the ferocity of the North Sea, and to a
lesser extent water draining off the land, frequently large amounts
crumble away and the land is lost for ever. Evidence of this can be
found just north and just south of Mappleton, and other not so fortunate
villages are still living in peril from the disappearing cliffs.
Mappleton Windmill was built in 1798 about a mile or so further
inland than it now is, and worked as a Corn Mill until
the early 1900s. Since this time it firstly was used as a home for a
while then by around mid 1930s it was left
empty and eventually it has ended up as we found it for sale, (through a
www.rightmove.com search) - completely
derelict. In 1992 a planning application was approved to restore the
windmill and along with a single storey new build, turn it into a
residential dwelling. The first part of the restoration was to
re-install its 'hat', this was made and fitted in 1995. Since then
no further work had been done and the mill was just an empty shell - no
floors, windows or doors - just plenty of pigeons sheltering in the
'new' roof.
We found the mill for sale in November 2004, finally completing the
purchase in February 2005. We were lucky that the
original architect was still in business and was keen to re-draw the
internal plans to suit our requirements (the outer design cannot be
changed without going through the stress of reapplying for fresh
planning) and over-seeing the actual works. Our intention was to finalise the
internal layout whilst at the same time liaising with builders etc and
sourcing the correct materials in order to keep the style of the new
build in keeping with the area. We hoped that building work would
begin in the Spring of this year (2005) (see Mill Diary
Feb to June, Diary of the
July to October, Diary
November onwards,
Diary
April to December 06
January 07 onwards) but as
can be seen from the diary it started even sooner, sadly it is taking a
lot longer than the six months that the builder originally advised,
especially as we are now completing the rest of the work ourselves - a
labour of love!
Contact
home@mappletonmill.co.uk
Summer sun and lots of wild flowers (or weeds)
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If anyone has any history of the windmill we would be very
interested, especially if anyone has any photos too. I have set
up a 'History of Mappleton Mill' page -
and I would love to add to it!
We would welcome any contact from anyone who
has embarked on a similar project who can perhaps pass on any helpful
advice to assist with our project.
What's
new .....
- FOR SALE BY AUCTION MAY 22ND 2008
- www.savills.co.uk or contact
home@mapletonmill.co.uk
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 - follow this link for the photos of the Tar
being applied
- Painting is complete in the kitchen and most of the beams have
been planed and treated
- A new book has been published about the History of Mappleton
with some great photos of the village and a brilliant old postcard
of the mill which would nice to reproduce but it has a copyright on
it. There are also memoirs from a man who's father was
the miller! What we have learnt is that the mill was lived in
probably up to just around World War 2.
- The inside of the mill is sparkling after we spent all day steam
cleaning it.
- Got a quote to tar the outside walls, but first we need to find
someone who can brave the height of the hat to repair a little
damage and re-paint it.
- Check out the history page - we have had contact from someone
who lived at Mill Farm in the 1950s/60s and used the mill as their
den!
- The weeds are a mile high but there just isn't enough time to
cultivate the 'garden' as well as all the DIY that needs doing.
- Able to stay overnight now the new-build is almost complete and
we are working through one room at a time, painting, waxing, hanging
curtains etc.
- Staircase is in so we have access to both upper floors
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