Record Details

NHER Number:4473
Type of record:Building
Name:Former Corn Windmill known as Cooper's Mill, Walpole Highway

Summary

This tower mill is constructed of brick and probably dates from the late 18th or early 19th centuries. The mill sales were removed in 1947, and the mill was worked by a steam engine. In 1969 the mill cap was removed and as a result the upper floors rotted and collapsed. To the south is a grand late Victorian miller's house.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TF 5154 1426
Map Sheet:TF51SW
Parish:WALPOLE HIGHWAY, WEST NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

Windmill. Working 18 April 1953. O. G. S. Crawford.
Note by R. R. Clarke (NCM).

A tower mill, marked on (S1). However Mr Apling states it ceased working when the sails were removed in 1947, and afterwards worked by steam. But it seems odd that O. G. S. Crawford should have recorded it as a working windmill if the sails had gone.
E. Rose (NAU), 24 March 1982.

Ordnance Survey records say windmill was working 18 April 1933 not 1953 explaining discrepancy.
Ordnance Survey Records.
R. J. Rickett (NAU), 22 February 1990.

Son of Herbert Cooper, last miller, confirms sails removed 1947. Rex Wailes calls 'derelict' in 1949.
E. Rose (NAU), 6 April 1982.

October 1982.
Three storey tapering tower, becoming vertical above the third storey, then an extra storey probably of recent date. Brick, part rendered and painted dark green. No cap. Apparently used as store. (S2) claimed fragmentary sails in 1961 (was he quoting someone else, or does he mean the shaft alone remained?). (S2) also mentions a contemporary granary; this has apparently been rebuilt or recoated in modern brick. To the south is a grand late Victorian miller's house.
E. Rose (NAU), 28 October 1982.

August 1951. Listed, Grade II.
Listing Description:
Tower mill. c.1820. Brick, rendered to third floor. 4 storeys, battered at third floor. Double doors to north and south. Original 3-light casements to each floor, 3 to east, 2 to south, 2 to west. Interior floors intact but no machinery. One ground floor beam inscribed TF 1743, re-used.
Information from (S3).
E. Rose (NAU), 20 May 1986.

See (S4).

March 2005. Building Survey.
Building recording in advance of redevelopment. The brick tower probably dates from the late 18th or early 19th centuries, with a possible 19th century extension from third floor level and a late 19th to early 20th century top floor. The mill cap was removed in 1969 and consequently the upper floors have rotted and collapsed. The second floor is still in place but in a dangerous condition. The first floor originally housed the millstones, the positions of which can still be seen. The first floor also contains a beam inscribed with the date 1743, which has probably be re-used from an earlier structure.
See report (S5) for further details. This work is also summarised in (S6).
J. Allen (NLA), 6 September 2005.

Monument Types

  • TOWER MILL (17th Century to 21st Century - 1700 AD? to 2100 AD)
  • WINDMILL (17th Century to 21st Century - 1700 AD? to 2100 AD)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status

  • Listed Building

Sources and further reading

---Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TF 51 SW 3 [2].
---Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
---Monograph: Pevsner, N and Wilson, W. 1999. Norfolk 2: North-West and South. The Buildings of England. 2nd Edition. p 744.
---Secondary File: Secondary File.
---Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Post-Medieval. Walpole St Peter.
<S1>Map: Ordnance Survey. 1836. 1st edition OS.
<S2>Monograph: Pevsner, N. 1962. North-West and South Norfolk. The Buildings of England. 1st Edition. p 362.
<S3>Designation: English Heritage. National Heritage List for England. List Entry 1237329.
<S4>Newspaper Article: Lynn News. 1991. Former Mill, Walpole Highway…. 22 January.
<S5>Unpublished Contractor Report: Underdown, S. 2005. A Photographic Survey and Observations at the former Corn Windmill, Cooper's Mill, Walpole Highway, Walpole St Peter, Norfolk. Norfolk Archaeological Unit. 1089.
<S6>Article in Serial: Gurney, D. and Penn, K. 2006. Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk in 2005. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLV Pt I pp 124-136. p 134.

Related records

MNO7780Related to: Windmill Mill Road Walpole Highway WALPOLE ST PETER (Revoked)

Find out more...

Norfolk County Council logo Heritage Lottery Fund logo

Powered by HBSMR-web and the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd, and mojoPortal CMS
© 2007 - 2024 Norfolk Historic Environment Service