Bourn Windmill, Post mill in Bourn, England
Bourn Windmill is a wooden structure with four sails, two operating on traditional principles and two using a patented system, each driving a pair of millstones for grain processing. The entire building stands on a central post and rotates to face the wind, allowing the sails to work at any time of day or year.
This post mill dates to the 1600s and is the oldest surviving example of its kind in England, operating commercially to grind grain until the early 20th century. The rise of industrial milling led to its closure, but local efforts later restored it and brought it back to visitors.
The name comes from the stream that powered the mill, and it was long central to the farming community here. Today visitors can see how this building shaped local life and economic activity.
The mill welcomes visitors and offers insight into how grain was historically ground and how the machinery operates. Plan to spend time examining the mechanisms and learning about traditional milling practices from displays and guides.
The structure rotates on a single central post, an engineering solution now found in only a handful of other mills across England. This rotating design let the building chase the wind throughout the day, a practical advantage that made this type of mill valuable before industrial machinery arrived.
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