Help Us Save Ellis Mill
Ellis’ Windmill is the sole survivor of a row of 9 windmills that formerly stood on the ridge to the west of Lincoln There were windmills here as early as 1241.
Ellis’ Mill is an example of a tower mill and had been built around 1798 although earlier windmills had been on this site since the early 17th century. According to the title deeds in which it is mentioned, the windmill then standing was built by Thomas Lawrence.
The original cap and sails would have been manoeuvred to face the wind by the means of a tail-pole but by the middle of the 18th century the windwheel, with between 5 and eight vanes, was being introduced. This advancement in windmill design automatically adjusted the sails so that they sat squarely into the wind.
In 1650, the first owner recorded was Anthony Meres but the tenant at that time is unknown. Shortly after this date, the White family owned it until 1706 when it was sold to George Lawson who sold it to William Garland in 1710. It was bought by the Favill family in 1730, who had a long connection with it until 1819. It was then acquired by the Rev John Wilson, who owned much land in the Newport area of the city and in 1850 it was sold to Anthony Peacock Willson. In 1894 it was bought by the Ellis family for £250 and who milled grain there until the early 1940’s although they retained ownership of the windmill, by now, in a deteriorating condition until the site was sold to developers, Morebury Properties in 1973 with a view to replacing it with a housing complex.
Planning permission was sought and refused by the City Council, and Lincoln Civic Trust bought the fire ravaged and derelict building as a restoration project to mark the Silver Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II in 1977.
A team of volunteers worked hard to obtain funding and materials to re-build the windmill with a cap being donated by the owners of the Subscription Mill at Sturton near Gainsborough and millstones from Eno’s Mill at Toynton -All -Saints. Timber was given by the Elsham Estate and by the Earl of Yarborough at Brocklesby. Labour was provided by the governments Manpower Service Commission; other materials and skills were provided by many of the leading businesses and the local college re-worked the wooden cap. The sails and fantail were built and erected by the Alford millwrights, Thompson and Company under the supervision of Mr Jim Davies.
Restoration was finally completed in 1980 and on Sunday 26 April 1981 the windmill ground its first flour for forty years. The windmill was open and operational at weekends with a team of Volunteers who ground and sold flour, guided the many visitors around the building, explaining the working of the windmill and showing hundreds of schoolchildren around this key building as they learnt about Lincolnshire’s agricultural heritage.
In 1995, the Lincoln Civic Trust gifted the windmill to the Lincolnshire County Council as its proximity to the Museum of Lincolnshire Life blended well with the vision of a key tourist heritage and educational centre. The Council also took on the responsibility that it would remain a working example of windmills. Lincolnshire County Council took on the Civic Trusts team of volunteers who continued to operate the windmill at weekends and for special events, accommodating some 4,000 visitors a year. Since the Covid epidemic of 2020, the windmill hasn’t operated but regular checks are made regarding its condition.