View source for Ringle Crouch Green Mill

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2014}}
{{Infobox Windmill
|name               = Ringle Crouch Green Mill
|image              = Ringle Crouch Green Mill.jpg
|image_size         = 250px
|caption            = The mill c.1892
|name_of_mill       =
|location_of_mill   = [[Sandhurst, Kent]]
|gbgridref          = TQ 805 283
|coordinates        = {{coord |51|1|36|N|0|34|17|E|type:landmark_region:GB-KEN|display=inline,title}}
|operator           =
|built              = 1844
|purpose            = Corn mill
|type               = [[Smock mill]]
|storeys            = Four-storey smock
|base_storeys       = Two-storey base
|roundhouse_storeys =
|smock_sides        = Eight-sided
|sail_number        = Five
|sail_type          = [[windmill sail|Patent sails]]
|windshaft          = [[Cast iron]], with Lincolnshire cross
|winding            = [[windmill fantail|Fantail]]
|fantail_blades     = Eight blades
|auxpower           =
|pairs_of_millstones= Four pairs
|stone_size         =
|saw_type           =
|pump_type          =
|scoop_dia          =
|lost               = 1944
|other              = New smock tower built in 1997, replica mill generates electricity.
}}
'''Ringle Crouch Green Mill''' is a [[smock mill]] in [[Sandhurst, Kent|Sandhurst]],  [[Kent]], England, that was demolished to base level in 1945, and now has a new smock tower built on it as residential accommodation and an electricity generator.

==History==
Ringle Crouch Green Mill was built in 1844 by William Warren, the [[Hawkhurst]] millwright to replace a [[post mill]] which had stood at Boxhurst Farm that was blown down in 1842. It was the only corn mill built in Kent with five sails.<ref name=Finch/><ref name=Five>There was another five-sail mill at [[History of Margate#Windmills|Margate]], but that was a pumping mill</ref> The mill was built for James Collins, who ran the mill until his death. His son Edward then took the mill and ran it until his death in 1911. The mill was run for a short time by Edward Collins' sons Edward and Harry, then by C J Bannister, who also had a mill at [[Northiam]], for about a year until the mill ceased working in 1912.<ref name=Finch>{{cite book | first = William| last = Coles Finch |author-link=William Coles Finch | year = 1933| title = Watermills and Windmills| pages = 269–71| publisher = C W Daniel Company| location = London}}</ref>

A sail blew off, and the mill quickly became derelict. The [[windmill fantail|fantail]] and shutters were taken down, and in 1926 the stage was taken down. An iron windpump was erected alongside the mill, and three water tanks were installed in the mill to supply nearby cottages and cowsheds.<ref name=Finch/> The smock was demolished in 1945<ref name=News>{{cite web| url= http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/detail.aspx?uid=16690| publisher = English Heritage| title = Ringle Crouch Windmill, Sandhurst, Kent| access-date= 2008-04-22}}</ref> The base was left standing and used as a [[Scouting|Scout]] hut for a time.<ref name=Mill>{{cite web| url= http://www.heritage-windpower.co.uk/| publisher = Heritage Windpower| title = History of the Windmill | access-date= 2008-04-22}}</ref>

In 1997, planning permission was applied for, and granted, to build a replica mill on the existing mill base, with the tower being used as living accommodation and a wind turbine for generating electricity. The new building was to replicate the former windmill, with five sails like the original mill had.<ref name=Mill2>{{cite web| url= http://www.heritage-windpower.co.uk/| publisher = Heritage Windpower| title = Reconstruction of the Windmill| access-date= 2008-04-22}}</ref>

==Description==
{{for|a description of the machinery|Mill machinery}}
[[File:Sandhurst replica 2.JPG|thumb|left|The replica, 2008]]''Ringle Crouch Green Mill'' was a four-storey smock mill on a two-storey brick base, with a Kentish-style cap carrying five single [[Windmill sail|patent sails]] on a [[cast iron|cast-iron]] windshaft. It was winded by a [[windmill fantail|fantail]]. There was a stage at second-floor level. The mill drove four pairs of [[millstone]]s.<ref name=Finch/>

The reconstructed mill has a four-storey smock on the original two-storey mill base, with the cap of a different design to the original, and lacking a fantail. The sails are {{convert|12.5|m|ft}} long each.<ref name=Mill2/> The generator is rated at about {{convert|20|kW|hp}} capacity.<ref name=Rough>{{cite web| url= http://www.roughwood.net/PhotoAlbum/2005%20Album/SandhurstWindmill2005.htm| publisher = Roughwood| title = 27th July 2005 - Sandhurst Windmill| access-date= 2008-04-22}}</ref>

==Millers==

*James Collins 1844 -
*Edward Collins Sr. - 1911
*Edward & Harry Collins 1911
*C J Bannister 1911 - 1912

References for above:-<ref name=Finch/><ref name=Arch>{{cite web| url= http://www.millarchive.com/kent/millpeople/Kent%20Mill%20People.htm| publisher= The Mills Archive Trust| title= Directory of Kent Mill People| access-date= 2008-04-22| url-status= dead| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090416174906/http://www.millarchive.com/kent/millpeople/Kent%20Mill%20People.htm| archive-date= 16 April 2009| df= dmy-all}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.windmillworld.com/millid/2708.htm Windmill World page] on the mill.
{{Kent Windmills}}

[[Category:Windmills completed in 1844]]
[[Category:Windmills completed in 1997]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1945]]
[[Category:Windmills in Kent]]
[[Category:Grinding mills in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Smock mills in England]]
[[Category:Electrical generators]]
[[Category:Windmills]]
[[Category:Octagonal buildings in the United Kingdom]]