The Grade II* Listed Ellis Windmill on Mill Road in Lincoln, Lincolnshire.
At one time nine windmills stood along the west face of Mill Road over the steep slopes of the Lincoln Edge, these days only Ellis Windmill which was built in 1798 remains. There are documentary references to mills along the road from the early 16th century.
Tower mill of 3 floors with 4 sails, ogee domed wooden cap and fantail. Construction of brick painted black. Door on ground level. Horizontally sliding square windows with stone sills and segmental arches.
The first recorded owner of Ellis’ Mill was a wealthy landowner named Anthony Meres. It went through a succession of owners until December 1894 when John Ellis bought the mill for £250. He died in 1920, but his wife and son successively retained ownership until 1973. The mill was still in working order in 1940, but lost its sails in 1941, when Frank Ellis was the miller.
The Mill remained fully operational until it fell into receivership in 1973 and in 1974 a fire destroyed all of the remaining woodwork. In 1977 the Lincoln Civic Trust acquired the mill and began its reconstruction, led by Chris Salisbury, millwright.
A cap mechanism was acquired from ‘Subscription Mill’ in Sturton-by-Stow and the stones and drives from ‘Eno’s Mill’ at Toynton-all-Saints and the sails and fantail were made by Thompson and Co from Alford. The reconstruction was completed in 1980 and milling began again in 1981. Lincolnshire County Council took it over in 1995.
The brick foundations of an ancillary building in the north-east part of the site were recorded in 2006, along with a short length of brick wall and a stone wall or foundation immediately north of the mill. Ellis Mill remains a working mill producing flour and is open to the public on Saturday afternoons.
Information source:
www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/ellis-mill/46233.article
