Site of 18th century post mill and subsequent smock mill, 'Barling Mill', north edge of Barling village (EHER 11105)

Now destroyed. A post mill is recorded at this location in 1724. A 'new' smock mill was advertised in 1763, as built in just 1760, and is depicted on the Chapman and Andre map of 1777. Records survive of the leasing of the windmill for the years 1784, 1789, 1799, and 1839. It went out of use in around 1900, and by 1905 the sails had been sawn off. The timber framed upper was destroyed in 1946, and the brick base was demolished in 1960. An excavation in 1991 recorded the foundations of the smock mill, and confirmed it was constructed on the site of the post mill. A subsequent excavation in 2007 successfully located and surveyed in both phases of the windmill and recorded the northernmost two-thirds of its ground plan.

Wind mill. On Chapman and Andre map, 1777. <1> <2> Smock Mill, succeeding an earlier mill. Stood south of Barling Road in the angle made with Little Wakering Road, 190 yards left of the church. <3> 1991. Archaeological excavation. Barling Windmill stood south of Church Road, about 200 yards north west of the Church (TQ 9306 8979). The proposed development in the garden of Mill House at Barling provided the owner with the opportunity to investigate the site of the windmill. Three phases, from the earliest post mill to the later smock mill were identified, but only the latter can be exactly dated. Brief history. The first record of a mill on this site is a symbol on the map of Warburton Bland and Smyth (in around 1724), and the first reference to a windmill is an advertisement in the Ipswich Journal dated April 1763, which offered the let or sale of a new Smock Windmill built about 3 years prior. Records survive of the leasing of the windmill for the years 1784, 1789, 1799, and 1839. It was visited and recorded by Dr. Turner in 1920, where it was noted to have been out of use for about 20 years, and the sails had been removed 10 years prior; the sails were sawn off the mill in 1905. The mill was demolished in 1946. The brick base remained until about 1960 when it was taken down, some of the bricks being re-used locally, and the site ploughed. Results of the excavation. Excavation exposed an almost complete circle of a single course of bricks approx. 250mm below turf level. The circle is interrupted by four equally spaced bays, the angles radiating from the centre, projecting about 300mm, each bay being about 2m wide. A 16mm thickness of puddled clay was noted around the outside of the foundation course, particularly noticeable on the northern half. The single brick foundation to the east had been almost ploughed out. Within the circle, four isolated bases were located approximately equidistant from the centre point, but set at right angles to each other. The only other feature within the circle was an irregular depression in the centre about 1400mm diameter and 200mm deep below plough line, filled with demolition debris. The latest brickwork on the site corresponds to the description on the Smock Mill built in 1760, which was finally demolished in 1960. The only remaining portion of 2 1/2 brick (570mm) thick wall follows the diameter of 22'9" mentioned in the sale notice of 1765. This brick wall has only survived in one area and presumably the rest of the foundation was cleared when the mill base was demolished. The presence of the single brick surround beneath the one course of 2 1/2 brick wall confirms that this is the foundation of a round house on the previous mill, i.e. Post Mill, '1759 pull down mill and build new'. The form of the construction, was likely very unstable, and would explain the formation of the four bays, which would have added strength. The puddled clay around the outside of the single brick foundation could have been formed by vibration, alternatively, it could be an infill between the brick and the foundation trench. The function of the four isolated bases is uncertain but it could be that they are associated with the position of the cross trees of an earlier Post Mill, date unknown. <4> 2007. Archaeological excavation. An excavation was carried out on the site of the Barling windmill, demolished in 1946, before construction of a new house in the garden of Mill House, 47 Church Road, Barling Magna. The windmill site had already been partially excavated in 1991 (Byford et al. 1992). The 2007 excavation successfully located and surveyed in both phases of the windmill and recorded the northernmost two-thirds of its ground plan. The recorded remains of the post mill comprised the central post-pit and the brick footings of a roundhouse built around it. Lines of post-holes aligned on the central post setting may represent small timber piles inserted to stabilise the ground beneath the cross-trees. The remains of the later smock mill survived very poorly, but mortar impressions enabled its outline to be reconstructed. <5> NRHE data transfer: See <6>. NRHE summary description: A windmill of unknown date. Note: No source is given by the NRHE record, but it has probably been derived from <6>.