Post-medieval windmill mound, Hempstead Hill, Hempstead (EHER 1436)

Moated mill mound of uncertain date. The mound is covered by trees and scrub, and has an overall diameter of 42 metres, with a dry ditch approximately 6 metres wide surrounding it. Access is by a causeway on the west side. It is locally known as the site of a mill, although no further information was obtained.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Moated mound 200m south of St Andrew's Church. Mound is about 32m in diameter and 1.8m high, surrounded by a moat, now dry, approximately 2m deep. Entrance on west side. Probably a mill mound. <1> Plan and section of trench in SMR. <2> <3> Width of moat 5m, depth 1.5m, encloses area of 0.7ha, raised 1.5m. Place name "The Windmill". Excavator thought it was a motte but Stokes thought this was highly unlikely. Site Assessment = Now in waste land. <4> On Chapman and Andre map 1777. <5> Overall diameter of 42m, ditch is dry and averages 6m wide and 1.6m deep. Mound stands 1.4m above ground level, has level top occupied by derelict chicken houses. Access by a causeway on the west side. <7> in <6> Map of earthworks in SMR, from 1897 25" OS map and excavator's notes. <8> Probably a post mill which had burned down possibly around 1900. It was marked on maps for the most part from 1678 to 1896. The mill was timber built and contained two pairs of stones. <9> <10> Area = .07 May 1950. Field survey. Moated mound 200.0m south of St. Andrews Church. The mound is approx. 32.0m diam. and 1.8m high, surrounded by a moat, now dry, approx. 2.0m deep. There is an entrance on the west side. Feature correct as shown on 6". Probably a mill mound. <11> March 1975. Excavation. Excavated in March, 1975 for school project. A trench was taken out from the rough centre of a depression in the top of the mound towards the south west side of the moat. Topsoil contained a mixture of artefacts -iron, glass, pot-perhaps with a date range of about 1650- recent for most of the finds. Finds were consistent with those in the top part of feature 'A', the 'hole'. The latter was circular, in a surrounding chalky deposit. The top part contained pot, iron nails etc and a coin of Charles I. Excavator thought it was unlikely to have been dug all the way down (1.5m) for a post, more likely to have been a tree hole but the top part may have been dug for the slanting wall, feature 'B '- "presumably the most recent" of any mills that stood here. Two dark marks and a row of bricks between features A and B were in the surface layer, presumably relate to a pig stye that stood on the site about 1940. Feature B was a brick wall, two bricks deep, laid in a slot. Perhaps the bottom part of a brick skirting wall or foundations of a wooden skirting wall for the most recent mill on the site. No associated finds. Features 'C' and 'D' were maybe a flint pathway and a brick and flint filled pathway. C contained broken glass from quite recent bottles, about 1900 or later. C and D don't seem to be contemporary or to have functioned together and date from about "the time after the final mill to stand on the site was burnt down". <12> January 1978. Field survey A mill mound covered by trees and scrub situated on high ground. It has an overall diameter of 42.0 m. The ditch is dry and has an average width of 6.0 m and depth of 1.6 m. The mound stands 1.4 m above ground level and has a level top occupied by derelict chicken houses. Access is by a causeway on the west side. Local enquiries confirm that this is known as the site of a mill but no further relevant information was obtained. A windmill is shown on the site on OS 1 inch 1904 to 1907, and the Tithe Map names it 'Windmill, yard and moat'. Published 25" survey (1921) revised. <13> See: <14>