How The Windmill Works
Wilton Windmill has two types of sails - one pair of common sails and one pair of 'patent' sails. The common sails comprise of a trellis-like
structure over which canvas sails are spread. This operation requires a total of three men
- two to climb up the sail
framework to spread and secure the canvas, while the third man operates the brake in the top of the mill. This
procedure takes
about half an hour and is, of course, undertaken in a wind thereby endangering the two men climbing the sails. The invention of
patent sails in 1807 eliminated these problems. The sails are made up of shutters which can be opened and closed on the same
principle as a Venetian blind. Should the wind prove to be too strong the shutters will 'feather' to give the best speed for
milling. In a strong wind when the use of four sails is unnecessary, the patent sails only can be used to drive the mill.
Dust Floor
The windmill works logically from the top floor, the dust floor, downwards. The dust floor is the powerhouse, or engine room of the mill.
It is here that the horizontal force of the wind is turned through 90 degrees to operate machinery on the lower floors of the
mill. In the same way use is made of other natural energy, gravity, to feed wheat into the machinery on the lower floors
|
|
![]() |
![]() |
Bin Floor
The bin floor stores the grain in two large bins before it is let down
to the stones on the floor below. There are two bins because in earlier days the mill operated two pairs of stones
simultaneously, but today we only use one pair of stones.
Stone Floor
On the stone floor the wheat is ground into flour. The floor contains the two pairs of stones of which, at the moment, only
one pair is driven. The working pair is enclosed in a wooden frame called a vat, and a spout leading from the bin
floor above leads into the centre of the stones. There are a number of controls to regulate the speed of flow of the grain
into the middle of the stones. The grain is thrown out to the outer edge of the stones by centrifugal force and is cut into
dust, i.e., flour, by the grooves on the inside faces of both stones. A paddle set on the outer edge of the runner
stone collects the flour and sweeps it into a hole in the floor. All this action occurs within the vat.
|
![]()
|
Spout Floor
The spout floor is the last working floor of the mill as the ground floor acts as an office and store for the miller. The main
shaft is bedded on a beam just below the great spur wheel. The stone nut engages with the spur wheel and drives the stone
shaft on which it is centred. The top of the stone shaft carries the spindle on which the runner stone is supported.
The flour from the stones travels down the spout to this floor and is collected in a sack as stone ground wholemeal
flour.
|
![]() |
|
|
|
