Famous Kent Landmark to be pulled down
Northbourne Mill said to have guided smugglers at Sandwich
Kent Messenger, 8 February 1957
A famous East Kent landmark is soon to disappear.
Northbourne Mill, which has stood on the highest point between Deal and
Sandwich for more than 300 years, is to be demolished in the near future.
Photograph of the Old Mill taken by H.E.S. Simmons in June 1933. Reproduced by permission of English Heritage. NMR
The ancient mill is the property of Lord Northbourne, and he is arranging for it to be taken down after it has stood derelict for many years. The old mill stands on a high piece of land some distance from the main road and by day presents a forlorn and depressing appearance. Only two of its four sweeps remain, and these have almost completely fallen to pieces and loose boards protrude from all parts. The mill is surrounded by barbed wire and is fenced off, with "Danger" notices erected. Nevertheless, the mill has a strange wistful beauty of its own on a clear, moonlit night. Its decay is softened by the light of the moon and its gaunt structure, towering over the landscape, takes on an ethereal appearance, almost like a tiny fairy castle.
But the mill was once very busy and at one time two millers and a boy were employed there as well as a team of loaders. A large trade was done by the mill, which is one of the largest in the country. The mill was worked entirely by wind and caught the full force of the breezes from all quarters.
Tradition has it that in the early days of the last century [19th century] the mill was used as a landmark by smugglers landing illicit cargoes at Sandwich Bay and then walking them inland across the marshes, past the mill to their secret lair in the heart of the county.
The last miller at Northbourne Mill was Mr. Jack Court, who followed his father. Mr Court, now 52 years old, works on Lord Northbourne's estate. He lives in a cottage almost within the shadow of the mill and in his garden has a scale working model of the mill itself. Mr Court was born and bred to the mill and he was more than sorry to see it fall into disuse in the years before the Second World War. But that was more than 20 years ago and now the old mill must come down.
"It won't be the same without it," says Mr. Court. "Although the sweeps have not turned for years, the mill is the first thing I look at when I get up in the morning. Even when it's dark, I can make out its black shape pointing to the sky".
Reproduced by permission of Kent Messenger Group, see Kent Online website for Local and County information.
A smock windmill has been on this site since at least 1769; (see left) Andrews and Dury map of that year. It is likely to be much earlier as the churchwardens' accounts of Northbourne in 1709 list John Hudson as the owner of 'the mill'. It
was considered a powerful mill and sometimes known as the 'Big Mill'. In
1868 renovations were carried out at a cost of £150. In 1925 two of
the four sails were damaged and the mill went out of use. In 1928 it was
reconditioned and the remaining two were also found to be in poor condition
so they were replaced.[1]
A similar fate befell the New Mill in July 1915 when a 'whirlwind' blew off two sweeps and it continued with the remaining pair.
[1] - Finch, William Coles, 1976, Watermills and Windmills, 251, (1st published 1933)