Windmill

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This article is about transforming wind energy into rotational energy. For wind-powered
generation of electricity, see wind turbine. For other uses, see Windmill (disambiguation).

This Dutch windmill in Amsterdam was built in 1757 and is identified as De 1100 Roe. It is a
smock mill of the type called by the Dutch a grondzeiler ("ground sailer"), since the sails almost
reach the ground. It is turned into the wind by a tailpole
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational motion by means of
adjustable vanes called sails. The main use is for a grinding mill powered by the wind, reducing
a solid or coarse substance into pulp or minute grains, by crushing, grinding, or pressing.[1][2]
Windmills have also provided energy to sawmills, paper mills, hammermills, and windpumps for
obtaining fresh water from underground or for drainage (especially of land below sea level).

Contents
[hide]
• 1 History
○ 1.1 Vertical-axis windmills
○ 1.2 Horizontal-axis windmills
 1.2.1 Fixed windmills
 1.2.2 Windmills that turn to face the wind
 1.2.3 Multi-sailed windmills
 • 2 Gearing
○ 2.1 Task specific gearing/operation
• 3 Uses
○ 3.1 As wind-pumping devices
○ 3.2 As electricity production systems
○ 3.3 Other
• 4 See also
• 5 References
• 6 Further reading
• 7 External links

[edit] History
See also: History of wind power

A diagram of the windwheel of Heron of Alexandria, 1st century, C.E.

The windwheel of the Greek engineer Heron of Alexandria in the 1st century marks one of the
first known instances of wind powering a machine in history.[3][4] Another early example of a
wind-driven wheel was the prayer wheel, which was used in ancient Tibet and China since the
5th or 7th century AD, according to different scholars.[5]
[edit] Vertical-axis windmills
See also: Panemone windmill
The Persian, vertical-axis windmill
The first practical windmills were the vertical-axis windmills invented in eastern Persia (what is
now Afghanistan), as recorded by the Persian geographer Estakhri in the 9th century.[6][7] The
authenticity of an earlier anecdote of a windmill involving the second caliph Umar (AD 634–
644) is questioned on the grounds that it appears in a 10th-century document.[8] Made of six to
twelve sails covered in reed matting or cloth material, these windmills were used to grind grain
or draw up water, and were quite different from the later European horizontal-axis versions.
Windmills were in widespread use across the Middle East and Central Asia, and later spread to
China and India from there.[9]
Some popular treatments of the subject have speculated that, by the 9th century, the Persian-style
vertical-axle mills spread to Europe through Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain).[10] This has been denied
by the specialist of medieval European technology, Lynn White Jr., who points out that there is
no evidence (archaeological or documentary) that the Afghanistan-style vertical-axle windmill
spread as far west as Al-Andalus,[11] and notes that "all Iberian windmills rotated on horizontal
axles until towards the middle of the fifteenth century."[12] Another historian of technology,
Michael Jonathan Taunton Lewis, suggested an alternative route of transmission for the Persian
vertical-shaft windmill, with its diffusion to the Byzantine Empire and its subsequent
transformation into the horizontal-shaft windmill in Europe.[13] Late medieval vertical-axle
windmills similar to the Persian design can be found along this route, particularly in Karpathos,
Greece, and Kandia, Crete. The Crusades has also been suggested as another possible route of
transmission, though in the sense of "stimulus diffusion," where the idea was diffused rather than
the technology itself.[14] However, the debate about whether the European horizontal-shaft
windmill evolved from the Persian style vertical-shaft windmill or was an independent
development remains unresolved.[13]
A similar type of vertical-shaft windmill with rectangle blades, used for irrigation, can also be
found in 13th-century China (during the Jurchen Jin Dynasty in the north), introduced by the
travels of Yelü Chucai to Turkestan in 1219.[15]

[edit] Horizontal-axis windmills

[edit] Fixed windmills
Fixed windmills, oriented to the prevailing wind were extensively used in the Cyclades islands of
Greece. The economies of power and transport allowed the use of these 'offshore' mills for
grinding grain transported from the mainland and flour returned. A 1/10th share of the flour was
paid to the miller in return for his service. This type would mount triangular sails when in
operation.[citation needed]
[edit] Windmills that turn to face the wind
Diagram of the smock mill at Meopham, Kent which uses a fantail and Cubitt's patent sails
In northwestern Europe, the horizontal-axle or vertical windmill (so called due to the dimension
of the movement of its sails) dates from the last quarter of the 12th century in the triangle of
northern France, eastern England and Flanders. Lynn White Jr. claims that the first certain
reference to the European horizontal-axle windmill is dated to 1185 in Weedley, Yorkshire.[16]
(This predates Joseph Needham's claim that the earliest known reference is from the 1191
chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond, in which a Dean Herbert of East Anglia supposedly competed
with the mills of the abbey of Bury St Edmunds).[17] These earliest mills were used to grind
cereals. The evidence at present is that the earliest type was the sunk post mill, so named because
of the large upright post on which the mill's main structure (the "body" or "buck") is balanced.
By mounting the body this way, the mill is able to rotate to face the wind direction; an essential
requirement for windmills to operate economically in North-Western Europe, where wind
directions are variable. By the end of the thirteenth century the masonry tower mill, on which
only the timber cap rotated rather than the whole body of the mill, had been introduced. In the
Netherlands these stone towerlike mills are called "round or eight-sided stone stage mills,
ground-sailers (windmills with sails reaching almost down to the ground), mound mills, etc."
(Dutch: ronde/achtkante stenen stelling molens, grond-zeilers, beltmolens, etc.). Dutch tower
mills ("torenmolens") are always cylindrical (such as atop castle or city wall towers). Because
only the cap of the tower mill needed to be turned the main structure could be made much taller,
allowing the sails to be made longer, which enabled them to provide useful work even in low
winds. Such mills were originally turned into the wind by a tailpole, a lever which protrudes
either from the rear of the body of a post mill, or from the cap of a tower mill. In tower mills,
internal levers, winches, or gearing operated by an endless chain or rope over a wheel at the rear
of the cap were also used to turn the cap into the wind.
Windmills were often built on top of castle towers or city walls, and were a unique part of a
number of fortifications in New France, such as at Fort Senneville.
Rottingdean smock mill, 1802
The familiar lattice style of windmill sails (also called "common" sails) allowed the miller to
attach sailcloths to the sails (while applying a brake). Trimming the sails allowed the windmill to
turn at near the optimal speed in a large range of wind velocities. The fantail, a small windmill
mounted at right angles to the main sails which automatically turns the heavy cap and main sails
into the wind, was invented by Edmund Lee in 1745, in England. The smock mill is a later
variation of the tower mill, constructed of timber and originally developed in the sixteenth
century for land drainage. With some subsequent development mills became versatile in windy
regions for all kind of industry, most notably grain grinding mills, sawmills (late 16th century),
threshing, and, by applying scoop wheels, Archimedes screws, and piston pumps, pumping water
either for land drainage or for water supply. In 1772, Scottish millwright, Andrew Meikle
developed the spring sail made from a series of connected parallel shutters that could be opened
or closed according to windspeed. To do this the sails had to be stopped, but the sails also
incorporated a spring which allowed the shutters to open a little more to prevent damage if the
wind suddenly strengthens. In 1789, Stephen Hooper invented the roller reefing sail, which
allowed automatic adjustment of the sail whilst in motion. In 1807, William Cubitt a Norfolk
engineer, invented a new type of sail, known there on as patent sails, using a chain and a rod that
passed through the centre of the windshaft. These sails had the shutters of Meikle's spring sails
and the automatic adjustment of Hooper's roller reefing sails. This became the basis of self-
regulating sails. These avoided the constant supervision that had been required up till then.

A windmill on the background of the 1792 Battle of Valmy, France.

By the 19th Century there were some 10,000 wind-powered corn mills operating in Britain,[18]
but with the coming of the industrial revolution, the importance of wind as primary industrial
energy source was replaced by steam and internal combustion engines. The increased use of
steam, and later diesel power, however, had a lesser effect on the mills of the Norfolk Broads,
these being so isolated (on extensive uninhabitable marshland) that some of them continued
service until as late as the 1950s. More recently windmills have been preserved for their historic
value, in some cases as static exhibits when the antique machinery is too fragile to put in motion,
and in other cases as fully working mills. There are around 50 working mills in operation in
Britain as of 2009.[18]
[edit] Multi-sailed windmills

An eight sailed Windmill at Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, UK

The majority of windmills had four sails. An increase in the number of sails meant that an
increase in power could be obtained, at the expense of an increase in the weight of the sail
assembly. The earliest record of a multi-sailed mill in the United Kingdom was the five sail Flint
Mill, Leeds, mentioned in a report by John Smeaton in 1774. Multi-sailed windmills were said to
run smoother than four sail windmills. In Lincolnshire, more multi-sailed windmills were found
than anywhere else in the United Kingdom. There were five, six and eight sail windmills.[19]
If a four sail windmill suffers a damaged sail, the one opposite can be removed and the mill will
work with two sails, generating about 60% of the power that it would with all four sails. A six
sail mill can run with two, three, four or six sails. An eight sail mill can run with two, four, six or
eight sails, thus allowing a number of options if an accident occurs. A five sail mill can only run
with all five sails. If one is damaged then the mill is stopped until it is replaced.[19] Apart from the
UK, multi-sail mills were built in Germany, Malta and the USA.
[edit] Gearing
See also: Mill machinery
An isometric drawing of the machinery of the Beebe Windmill. It was built in Bridgehampton,
NY in 1820.
In general, the gearing inside a regular windmill has as a main function to convey the power
from the rotary motion of the rotor (which connects to the windblades/windmill sails) to another
device (and possibly convert the rotary motion into a reciprocating motion in the process). This
could be a grist mill, saw blades, hammers or other devices. The power conveying is done by
means of a windshaft, which connects to the rotor. The windshaft in turn connects to the Upright
shaft. Regular windmills do not contain a gearbox. Rather, if a greater or slower speed is
required for a specific part, the connecting part is instead locally fitted with smaller/greater cogs
(which increase/decrease the speed).
[edit] Task specific gearing/operation
With wind-powered grinding mills, there is also a governor present. This device increases or
decreases the space between the grinding stones as the windblades pick up more/less wind
(which increases/decreases the rotation speed). As the rotation of the stones goes faster, the
grinding stones have the tendency to increase the opening between them, which would (if not
corrected) result in a unhulled grain. Before the governor was invented, the miller would need to
correct this manually.
Besides the obvious driving of the grinding stones (usually up to 3 via the windshaft),it also
drives other devices as well such as the sack hoist. The upright shaft drives pre-treatment devices
such as those for winnowing or threshing.
[edit] Uses
[edit] As wind-pumping devices
• In the Netherlands, wind-powered pumps were important for the reclamation of flooded
land.
• The Norfolk Broads, used windmills for powering drainage pumps until as late as 1959.
• In New France, particularly in Canada, they also doubled as strong points in
fortifications.[20] Prior to the 1690 Battle of Quebec, the strong point of the city's
landward defenses was a windmill called Mont-Carmel, where a three-gun battery was in
 place.[20] At Fort Senneville, a large stone windmill was built on a hill by late 1686,
doubling as a watch tower.[21] This windmill was like no other in New France, with thick
walls, square loopholes for muskets, with machicolation at the top for pouring lethally
hot liquids and rocks onto attackers.[21] This helped make it the "most substantial castle-
like fort" near Montreal.[22]
• In the United States, the development of the water-pumping windmill was the major
factor in allowing the farming and ranching of vast areas of North America, which were
otherwise devoid of readily accessible water. They contributed to the expansion of rail
transport systems throughout the world, by pumping water from wells to supply the needs
of the steam locomotives of those early times. Two prominent brands were the Eclipse
Windmill developed in 1867 (which was later bought by Fairbanks-Morse) and the
Aermotor, which first appeared in 1888 and is still in production. The effectiveness of the
Aermotor's automatic governor, which prevents it from flying apart in a windstorm, led to
its popularity over other models. Currently, the Aermotor windmill company is the only
remaining water windmill manufacturer in the United States. They continue to be used in
areas of the world where a connection to electric power lines is not a realistic option.[23]
[edit] As electricity production systems
In the early 1980s, several small companies started wind farms for commercial energy
production in the San Joaquin valley region of California. The first such wind farm was created
in 1981 when John Eckland, of Fayette Manufacturing Corporation placed the first windmills on
land leased from Joe Jess, Sr. on the Altamont Pass. Later, as a gift to Mr. Jess for the continued
use of his land, Fayette created a 'stars and stripes' themed windmill.[24][25][26]

Interior view, Pantigo windmill, East Hampton, New York. Historic American Buildings Survey
At one point in the mid-80s there were over twenty-six wind farm companies operating in this
area of the United States. This eventually expanded to areas outside of Palm Springs, as seen as
backdrops in several films of the era, such as Less Than Zero. However, later legislative efforts
by California lawmakers eliminated the financial incentives and tax breaks that made these early
alternative energy projects feasible (Fisher, 1985). Similar tax credits and incentives have
brought a resurgence in interest in renewable energy sources in other areas of the country
(Maloney, 2006).[24][25][26]
Windmills and related equipment are still manufactured and installed today on farms and
ranches, usually in remote parts of the western United States where electric power is not readily
available. The arrival of electricity in rural areas, brought by the Rural Electrification
Administration (REA) in the 1930s through 1950s, contributed to the decline in the use of
windmills in the US. Today, the increases in energy prices and the expense of replacing electric
pumps has led to an increase in the repair, restoration and installation of new windmills.
[edit] Other
• Gristmills, or corn mills, grind grains into flour. These were undoubtedly the most
common kind of mill.
• Fulling or walk mills were used for a finishing process on cloth.
• Sawmills cut timber into lumber.
• Bark Mills ground bark from trees to powder for use in tanneries.
• Spoke mills turned lumber into spokes for carriage wheels.
• Cotton mills (initially used only to spin yarn) were usually powered by a water wheel at
the beginning of the industrial revolution.
• Bobbin Mills made wooden bobbins for the cotton and other textile industries.
• Carpet mills for making carpets and rugs were sometimes water-powered.
• Textile mills for spinning yarn or weaving cloth were sometimes water-powered.
• Powder mills for making gunpowder - black powder or smokeless powder were usually
water-powered.
• Blade mills were used for sharpening newly made blades.
• Slitting mills were used for slitting bars of iron into rods, which were then made into
nails.
• Rolling mills shaped metal by passing it between rollers.
• Lead was usually smelted in smeltmills prior to the introduction of the cupola (a
reverberatory furnace).
• Paper mills used water not only for motive power, but also required it in large quantities
in the manufacturing process.
• Stamp mills for crushing ore, usually from non-ferrous mines
• Needle mills for scouring needles during manufacture were mostly water-powered (such
as Forge Mill Needle Museum)
• Oil mills for crushing oil seeds might be wind or water-powered

[edit] See also

Renewable energy
portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Multi-sailed windmills

• American Wind Power Center in Lubbock, TX

 • Balancing machine
• Éolienne Bollée
• List of windmills
• Mill machinery
• Molinology
• Renewable energy
• Thomas O. Perry
• Watermill
• Runner stone
[edit] References
1. ^ Mill definition
2. ^ Windmill definition stating that a windmill is a mill or machine operated by the wind
3. ^ A.G. Drachmann, "Heron's Windmill", Centaurus, 7 (1961), pp. 145–151
4. ^ Dietrich Lohrmann, "Von der östlichen zur westlichen Windmühle", Archiv für Kulturgeschichte, Vol.
77, Issue 1 (1995), pp. 1–30 (10f.)
5. ^ Lucas, Adam (2006), Wind, Water, Work: Ancient and Medieval Milling Technology, Brill Publishers,
p. 105, ISBN 90-04-14649-0
6. ^ ‫ ابواسحاق‬،‫ي‬
‌ ‫ اصطخر‬- ‫‌دانره المعارف بزرگ اسلمی‬
7. ^ Ahmad Y Hassan, Donald Routledge Hill (1986). Islamic Technology: An illustrated history, p. 54.
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-42239-6.
8. ^ Dietrich Lohrmann, "Von der östlichen zur westlichen Windmühle", Archiv für Kulturgeschichte, Vol.
77, Issue 1 (1995), pp. 1–30 (8)
9. ^ Donald Routledge Hill, "Mechanical Engineering in the Medieval Near East", Scientific American, May
1991, p. 64–69. (cf. Donald Routledge Hill, Mechanical Engineering)
10. ^ Farrokh, Kaveh (2007), Shadows in the Desert, Osprey Publishing, p. 280, ISBN 1-84603-108-7
11. ^ Lynn White Jr. Medieval technology and social change (Oxford, 1962) p. 86
12. ^ Lynn White Jr. Medieval technology and social change (Oxford, 1962) p. 161–162
13. ^ a b Lucas, Adam (2006), Wind, Water, Work: Ancient and Medieval Milling Technology, Brill Publishers,
pp. 106–7, ISBN 90-04-14649-0
14. ^ Bent Sorensen (November 1995), "History of, and Recent Progress in, Wind-Energy Utilization", Annual
Review of Energy and the Environment 20: 387–424, doi:10.1146/annurev.eg.20.110195.002131
15. ^ Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 560.
16. ^ Lynn White Jr. Medieval technology and social change, Oxford, 1962, p. 87.
17. ^ Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 555.
18. ^ a b Victorian Farm, Episode 1. Directed and produced by Naomi Benson. BBC Television
19. ^ a b Wailes, Rex (1954), The English Windmill, London: Routlege & Kegan Paul, pp. 99–104
20. ^ a b Chartrand, French Fortresses in North America 1535–1763: Quebec, Montreal, Louisbourg and New
Orleans
21. ^ a b Chartrand, p 41
 22. ^ Chartrand, p. 38
23. ^ Quirky old-style contraptions make water from wind on the mesas of West Texas
24. ^ a b Land Use Cooperative article from 1985
25. ^ a b (2006) Maloney, P. New York Times, May 17th. 2006.
26. ^ a b The threat to wind energy, special report. (1985). Fisher, B. New York Times, October 26, 1985.
• A.G. Drachmann: "Heron's Windmill," Centaurus, 7 (1961), pp. 145–151

[edit] Further reading

• Ahmad Y Hassan, Donald Routledge Hill (1986). Islamic Technology: An illustrated
history. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-42239-6.
• Chartrand, French Fortresses in North America 1535–1763: Quebec, Montreal,
Louisbourg and New Orleans.
• Dietrich Lohrmann, "Von der östlichen zur westlichen Windmühle", Archiv für
Kulturgeschichte, Vol. 77, Issue 1 (1995)
• A.G. Drachmann, "Heron's Windmill", Centaurus, 7 (1961).
• Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and
Physical Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd.
• Hugh Pembroke Vowles: "An Enquiry into Origins of the Windmill", Journal of the
Newcomen Society, Vol. 11 (1930–31)
• Roy Gregory and Laurence Turner (2009) Windmills of Yorkshire ISBN 978-1-84033-
475-3
• Edwin Tunis (1999), Colonial living, The Johns Hopkins University Press ", ISBN 0-
8018-6227-2, pp. 72 and 73
[edit] External links
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• Architecture: Windmills at the Open Directory Project

 • Earth Science Australia, Wind Power and Windmills
• The International Molinological Society
• Windmills at Windmill World
• The Mill Database, Europe
• Rottingdean smock mill, Sussex UK, photo gallery
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History of
Windmills

Introduction
Since ancient times, man has harnessed the power of the wind to provide
motive power for transportation. Likewise, the technique of grinding grain
between stones to produce flour is similarly ancient, and widespread. Quite
where and when these two came together in the first windmill is unknown, but
a likely scenario suggests a Persian origin, from where (tradition has it) the
knowledge spread back into Northern Europe as a result of the Crusades.
However, since the Persian mills were quite unlike the early European
designs it seems just as likely that the adaptation of wind as a power source
was independently discovered in Europe, albeit at a later date. (Of course
wind was not the first non-human power source applied to the task of grinding
corn - it was preceeded by both animal power, and in all probability by water
power).
European millwrights became highly skilled craftsmen, developing the
technology tremendously, and as Europeans set off colonizing the rest of the
globe, windmills spread throughout the world.
The pinnacles of windmill design include those built by the British, who
developed many advanced "automatic control" mechanisms over the
centuries, and the Dutch (who used windmills extensively to pump water and
for industrial uses, as well as to grind grain).
As steam power developed, the uncertain power of the wind became less and
less economic, and we are left today with a tiny fraction of the elegant
structures that once extracted power from the wind. These remaining
windmills, scattered throughout the world, are a historic, and certainly very
photogenic, reminder of a past technological age. A number of mills have
been restored, either visually, or in some cases back to full working order,
where the trend for organic and non-manufactured foodstuffs has shifted the
economics slightly back in their favour once again.
However the promise of widespread power from the wind lives on, both in the
form of wind turbines producing electricity, and in the form of small scale
windpumps (often largely low-tech "appropriate technology" installations) still
used extensively in world agriculture.
English Windmills
Evidence of windmills in England dates from the 12th century, with earlier
references to "mills" (such as in the 11th century Doomsday Book) generally
held to be talking about either animal or water powered mills.
The 14th and 15th centuries provide evidence of what the early mills looked
like, with illustrations occuring in diverse media such as memorial brasses,
stained glass, and wood carvings, as well as the expected manuscript
records.
These early illustrations all show the simple, all wooden, post mill structure.
Post Mills
Post mills are so named because of the large upright post on which the mill's
main structure (the "body" or "buck") is balanced. By mounting the body this
way, the mill is able to rotate to face the (variable) wind direction.
To maintain the upright post, a structure consisting of horizontal crosstrees,
and angled quarterbars is used. By far the most common arrangement was 2
cross bars at right angles to each other under the base of the post, together
with 4 quarterbars. Occasionally however other arrangements did occur, such
as 3 crosstrees, and consequently 6 quarterbars.
Initially the crosstrees would have rested directly on the ground, (or indeed
were buried in the ground for extra stability) but since this makes them very
succeptible to rotting, the crosstrees were soon being placed on brick piers, to
raise them off the ground.
The body of the mill housed all the milling machinery - a large brake wheel on
the same shaft as the sails (the "windshaft") transferred power to a smaller
gear at right angles to it, called the wallower. The wallower shared a vertical
shaft with the great spur wheel, and from this smaller wheel a "stone nut" was
used to drive the millstone. As larger mill bodies were constructed, additional
pairs of stones could be driven, by taking further power taps, each using an
extra "stone nut" off the great spur wheel. In order to apply some level of
control to the mill, the brake wheel could be slowed using a large wooden
friction brake around its outer edge.
As already mentioned, the whole body rotated on the central post, in order to
face the wind. To allow this to happen, a tailpole or tiller beam extended from
the rear of the body. By pushing on this beam (or by using some form of winch
or animal power) the miller rotated his mill. The tailpole also provides a useful
attachment point for a ladder to provide access to the mill.
An obvious improvement on the early post mill, is to build a roundhouse up
around the crosstrees and quarterbar structure. This makes this structure a lot
more protected from the weather, and provides additional storage space.
Smock Mills
Smock mills (named after the dress like agricultural costume whose shape
they vaguely resemble) are a fundamental improvement over the post mill
design.
Instead of rotating the whole body of the mill to face the mill, the smock mill
design consists of a fixed wooden body, holding the milling machinery,
together with a rotatable cap, which holds just the roof, the sails, the windshaft
and the brake wheel.
By rotating just the mill cap, the body of the mill can be made much larger
than in a post mill, and hence able to house more pairs of stones, and more
ancilliary machinery. In addition, the body can be made arbitrarily high, the
extra height allowing the sails to catch more wind (and to a certain extent a
taller body can allow longer sails to be employed, to the same end).
Smock mill bodies are theoretically roughly circular, though the use of straight
timber means that most are actually eight sided. Other numbers of sides
occur, including in England examples of six through to twelve sides. (In
addition there are a number of small smock mills throughout the world which
have square bodies). Many English smock mills are constructed above a more
substantial brick built base, which may range from a few courses, up to
several stories high.
Tower Mills
Tower mills take the smock mill design even further, by replacing the wooden
body with a brick or stone built tower. Since the necessity of having straight
sides (due to straight timber) is removed, true circular bodies are the common
arrangement. However straight sided structures do occur, and even towers
that start off with straight sides at the base, but change to a circular plan part
way up (perhaps due to building the tower on what was originally a smock mill
base).
By using brick or stone for the body, tower mills can be built even larger and
taller than smock mills, and by being a more durable building material, the
mills are more weatherproof, and more fireproof.

Other pages concerned with the history and development of windmills

• John Vince, an authority on English windmills
• Encyclopedia Britannica
 • The Illustrated History of Wind Power Development
• Oakton Community College English windmill history page.
• Engines of our Ingenuity
• William Cubitt - inventor of patent sails
• Old and new methods of milling
• Sources for the history of mills
• Technologies and Their Societies: Historical Perspectives

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