Windmills (Shire Library)

Windmills have been in existence for over eight hundred years and, although only a small fraction of those that once ground corn, pumped water and provided power for industry and agriculture now survives, they still provide a distinctive and often dramatic presence in the British landscape. Among the most important features of these survivors are the variations in design that have come about through their different origins, the use of local materials in their construction, and the influence of the millwrights and millers who built and worked them in different parts of Britain. Understanding these variations is vital for the protection and maintenance of windmills, whose continued survival allows a fascinating insight into the historic use of renewable energy, the development of engineering, and the processing of grain, for flour and bread, as well as other essential products.