Site of early 18th century windmill, 'Barrowhill Windmill', Heybridge (EHER 7839)

Now destroyed. The site of windmill built in 1702/1703 and pulled down in 1892. The remaining mill mound was formerly incorrectly interpreted as a tumulus by the Ordnance Survey and is described as such on the 1st-3rd edition maps, though the 1st edition does also label a mill at the site (Barrowhill Windmill). The Chapman and Andre map of 1777 illustrates a windmill in this location, and it is thought that the mill worked in tandem with a companion tide mill nearby (EHER 40676). It was a three stone smock mill. The mill mound appears to have subsequently been built on by a modern restaurant, and may no longer be extant. During a visit in 1976, the Ordnance Survey stated there was no evidence for a purpose-built mill mound, and as such, this mound (and another nearby mound said to be formed by spoil from the mill pond) has been interpreted as originally part of a large, earlier, possible saltworking site, see EHER 7840.

The site of a wind mill pulled down in 1892. It was built in 1702, destroyed in 1831 though the tower was rebuilt in that year. <1> Wind mill shown here on the Chapman and Andre map of 1777 (labelled Barrow Hill Mills). <2> The windmill is thought to have been built in 1703, likely to have been built in place of an earlier mill destroyed in a storm. The mill was a companion to the tide mill nearby (EHER 40676) and was a three-stone smock mill. <3> According to 1953 OS card the feature is no longer extant. <4> September 1976. Field survey. A detached dining room from the Mill Beach Restaurant seems to be built on a mound, probably the one published as a tumulus by the OS (<5>). It is probably the site of the wind mill known as Barrow Hill Mill which was close by the restaurant. Another mound was spoil from cleaning out the mill pond (see EHER 7840). The suggested tumulus shows an irregular rise of unstratified clay approximately 40m x20m and 1m high. It is on the north side of an old fish storage tank and is part of the garden of the Mill Beach Hotel. A wind mill is shown here on an 18th century map (<2>) and local tradition sites a mill here, but there is no evidence of a purpose built mound according to the Ordnance Survey. <6> - <9> The 1st-3rd edition OS maps incorrectly attribute the mill mound as a tumulus. The 1st edition does label a mill at the site though, called Barrowhill Windmill. <5> <10> <11> NRHE data transfer: Tumulus (NR). <12>