Eastbridge Windpump

Eastbridge Windpump

Eastbridge Windpump as restored at the Museum of East Anglian Life
Origin
Mill name Eastbridge Windpump
Mill location TM 045 580
52°10′56″N 0°59′32″E / 52.18222°N 0.99222°E / 52.18222; 0.99222
Operator(s) Museum of East Anglian Life
Year built 1979
Information
Purpose drainage mill
Type Smock mill
Smock sides Eight sides
Number of sails Four Sails
Type of sails Patent sails
Windshaft Cast iron
Winding Fantail
Fantail blades Six blades
Type of pump Three-throw plunger pump

Eastbridge Windpump is a smock mill at the Museum of East Anglian Life, Stowmarket, Suffolk, England which has been restored to working order.

History

Eastbridge Windpump was probably built in the mid nineteenth century by Robert Martin, the Beccles millwright.[1] It originally stood at Minsmere Level, Eastbridge, Leiston (TM 468 662).[2] In the early 1920s, millwright Dan England of Ludham reinforced the mill by bolting the frame from a nearby smock mill (TM 475 659), which had collapsed, over the weatherboarding.[3] It worked by wind until 1940. After the war, an iron windpump was erected nearby to take over from Eastbridge Windpump. On 19 February 1977, Eastbridge Windpump collapsed. The remains were dismantled by members of Suffolk Mills Group in July 1977 and later incorporated into the rebuilt mill at the Museum of East Anglian Life, Stowmarket. The restoration work was done by Jameson Marshall Ltd.[2]

Description

For an explanation of the various pieces of machinery, see Mill machinery.

Eastbridge windpump is a 30 feet (9.14 m) high smock mill on a brick base of a few courses. It has a boat-shaped cap and is winded by a fantail. The four Patent sails are carried on a cast-iron windshaft. They span 44 feet (13.41 m). The cast iron brake wheel drives a cast iron wallower carried on a cast iron upright shaft. A cast iron crown wheel drives a three-throw plunger pump, which has cylinders 1 foot (305 mm) square.[3]

Public access

Eastbridge Windpump is open to the public and may be viewed externally during normal opening times of the Museum of East Anglian Life.[4]

References

  1. "East Bridge Wind Pump". East Anglian Rural Life Museum. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
  2. 1 2 Dolman, Peter (1978). Windmills in Suffolk. Ipswich: Suffolk Mills Group. pp. 35, 51–52. ISBN 0-9506447-0-6.
  3. 1 2 Flint, Brian (1979). Suffolk Windmills. Woodbridge: Boydell. pp. 97–98. ISBN 0-85115-112-4.
  4. "Opening times". Museum of East Anglian Life. Retrieved 19 May 2009.

External links

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