Ullesthorpe Subscription Windmill

The brick tower of Ullesthorpe’s windmill has stood as a landmark over the village for more than two centuries.

It was built soon after 1800 by local subscribers raising the money by buying shares in the company, which employed a miller to live in the house and serve the village grinding locally grown grain. Later a bakehouse was added for baking bread.

It fell out of use, like most village mills, by the end of the nineteenth century and lost its sails. Fortunately it was never dismantled and so preserves much of the original wooden machinery inside.

The tower remained conspicuous but few people realised the full interest of its six floors, the group of buildings and their contents. In 2008 a group of local people started the Ullesthorpe Windmill Project in order to make it possible for visitors to see inside. There was also an ambitious scheme to restore the building as a village study centre by founding a preservation trust and applying for a National Lottery grant.

With the help of volunteers from the Midland Mills Group, the mill is usually opened two days a year, during National Mills Weekend and Heritage Open Days.

John Goodacre 01455 209015