Restoration — Upminster Windmill

The Restoration of Upminster Windmill

The project is managed through a partnership between the Friends of Upminster Windmill and the London Borough of Havering. Generous funding is being provided by National Lottery Heritage Fund and Veolia Maintenance Trusts.

The work is being undertaken by Dutch millwright Willem Dijkstra. Work began in 2016 and is expected to be completed in Spring 2023.

The work so far:

1. Removal of the cap and sails in 2016. This dramatic event can be viewed on YouTube .

2. Removal of the external gallery and weatherboarding, the erection of scaffolding and the application of a polythene wrap to protect the structure against the weather during the restoration

3. Refurbishment of the brickwork surrounding the ground floor

4. Repairs to some of the structural cross-beams and the floor-boarding

5. Repair or replacement of the structural timbers of the smock tower

6. Provision of new weatherboarding to the refurbished structure, allowing the scaffolding and polythene wrap to be removed

7. Construction of a new external gallery

8. Refurbishment of the cap in the Dutch workshop and its transportation back to the UK

9. Construction of four new sails, again in the Dutch workshop, and their transportation to the UK

10. Installation of the refurbished cap and the new sails

11. Repair and refurbishment of the extensive internal milling machinery, mostly undertaken by volunteers

12. Provision of a new visitor centre where people can learn about the mill and its rich history, utilising modern technology

13. Construction of a garden area and re-landscaping the grounds around the mill with wildflowers to attract wildlife

For more information, please email: info@upminsterwindmill.org