Durrington or High Salvington Windmill is a Grade II listed post mill in High Salvington, Sussex that has been restored and is in full working order. The mill stands 320 feet (98 m) above sea level and is able to take advantage of incoming sea winds.
History The earliest mention of a mill is in church records, which indicate that the miller was fined in 1615. Budgen's 1724 map showed a mill on this site. The current mill was built around 1750 and was apparently insured against fire in 1774. The windmill ground flour for the Worthing area until 1897 when it was purchased by Colonel T F Wisden. A condition of sale was that the mill had to be kept in working order. It was retired to a role of grinding animal feed until 1905. During much of the 20th century the mill was neglected although in 1907 the wooden roundhouse was replaced with a concrete structure used as a tea-room. In 1959, the mill was taken into the care of Worthing Borough Council. Messrs E Hole and Son, millwrights of Burgess Hill renovated the mill in 1961 and fitted a new pair of stocks and four new sails. In March 1976 one of the sails was broken off in a gale, and the other three removed. An inspection of the mill revealed she was not in good repair. Worthing Town Council set up a restoration project. The roundhouse was rebuilt to better replicate the original in 1990 and the restored mill began grinding again in 1991. A granary rescued from East Grinstead was re-erected at the mill in 1994. In 1998 it was discovered that one of the stocks was split. A new stock was made from laminated larch and the sails were refitted. In early 2008, the three councillors from Salvington Ward, Mayor Heather Mercer, Cllr Jacqui Marsh and Cllr Noel Atkins, awarded the Mill Trust a total of £3,000, from the Mayor's fund and the pilot Ward Budget Scheme, respectively. This will contribute to the refurbishment of the current gatehouse as a visitor information centre, which it is hoped will be completed by the end of 2009.
Mythology Sadly, much has been written about Durrington Mill, (now called High Salvington Mill), which has found its way into official records and publications, but for which the original research appears to be lacking. This section attempts to dispel a number of these myths. When the economics of wind and water-powered mill was undermined by new, steam-powered roller mills, millers of the old school had to find new ways to make a living. At High Salvington, the miller's wife, who was regularly asked for a glass of water by tourists who had toiled up the hill, hit upon the idea of offering a cup of tea and charging for this service. Thus was the High Salvington Windmill tea-room initiated. After miller Scutt's suicide, subsequent "millers" chose to emphasise the Mill as a tourist attraction and made money by charging for refreshments and to climb the steps to look at the mill and its machinery. While this contributed to keeping the mill and its machinery intact, the "millers" elaborated and embellished the known history of the mill, and thus an extensive body of mythology was created to attract and excite visitors. These myths often have been quoted and cited, as various millers lent credence to their stories by publishing them in leaflets, available to the visiting public.
The myth of the Post Tree A favourite myth is that of the mill's post being part of a tree that grew on the site, the roots of which extended many feet below the ground. Apart from the fact that no mills were built like this in the 1740s, once the raised floor of the tea-rooms was removed from the hexagonal concrete round-house constructed in 1907, it is clear that the post, as is to be expected, is suspended above the ground, by diagonal quarter bars held in place against the cross-trees, themselves resting on brick piers, and that the base of the post is wedged into the centre of the cross-trees, with the wedges used to balance the post and adjust for the varying distribution of weight in the buck as stones, sails and machinery are added or removed. This myth appeared in several publications, including an untitled leaflet published by St. Stephens Press, Bristol, in the 1950s. (It refers to 1897 as being "53 years ago", and the cover page bears text that includes "VISITORS to WORTHING should not fail to see THE 200 YEAR OLD WINDMILL With its wonderful Old Wooden Machinery"). According to this leaflet, "The post itself at Salvington is of great interest. About 20 years ago excavations were made at the base of it to discover what means had been used to plant it so firmly in the ground that it had borne the whole weight of the mill and withstood the winter storms for two hundred years. To the surprise of the diggers, 12 feet below the level of the ground, instead of coming to the end of the post, great roots were found stopping further progress, showing that a living oak had been trimmed and made use of as it stood." The myth is refuted by Rex Wailes in his article "Some Windmill Fallacies", published in the 1961 volume of the Transactions of the Newcomen Society of Great Britain.
The "Worked in 1914" myth "The mill is known to have worked again in 1914." Brunnarius claims that the mill worked again in 1914, but at that time, the mill was fixed in one position, and the construction of the hexagonal concrete roundhouse prevented the mill from being winded a full 360 degrees. It was not until the restorers removed the corners of the concrete roundhouse in the 1970s, that the mill was able to turn fully. The restored wooden roundhouse, built to the pre-1907 design, which has replaced the concrete roundhouse, allows the mill to be winded 360 degrees. No evidence has been found to support Brunnarius' claim.
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