courtesy of Whatsthatpicture.com 
ture.com
The Windmill
Bellingham Lane
Rayleigh
Public opening hours
from April 2008
Wednesday 10:00 -
Saturday 1:00 -
Sunday 1:00 -
For further info
01702 546366 Ext 3619
History of the Windmill
The Rayleigh windmill has had an interesting if chequered history.
• The mill was built in about 1809 and thrived in the early 19th Century, being the place to which corn from the surrounding areas was brought for grinding. Following the agricultural depression of the 1870s it went bankrupt in the late 1880s.
• Over the next few decades it frequently changed hands at the end of which time it had regained commercial viability. • In 1884 a man was crushed to death while struggling to throw the machine out of gear.
• Another setback came in 1906 when the miller became too ill to tend to the sails –which required attention 24 hours a day.
The sails were taken down and the mill was converted to steam and a few years later to diesel power. In later years it was powered by electricity.
• The windmill continued in use until just before World War II. In 1943 the owner of the mill,
Archie Brown, was murdered by his son.
• In the 1970s restoration work allowed the mill to be opened to the public.
Data copied from the Rochford Council information