Description

TL 51 SW MATCHING HARLOW ROAD
Matching Mill
3/45 II

Roundhouse of post mill, C19, converted to smithy c.1882. Walls of soft red
bricks with lime mortar, Flemish bond, thickness 0.33 metre to height of 0.80
metre, thickness 0.23 metre to height of 2.50 metres. Octagonal pyramidal roof
of handmade red clay tiles terminating in an octagonal louvre. 2 original
windows with segmental arches to NE and SW. 2 original doors, of
conventional size to SE with segmental arch over, NW door 1 metre wide, in upper
and lower halves, brick arch missing. Forge in centre with bellows intact. The
tithe award of 1843shows the buildings on site as at present, described as
'Windmill, cottage and garden', owner and occupier Charles Martin (Essex Record
Office D/CT 236). The 6" OS map surveyed in 1881 describes it as 'Matching Mill
(Corn)' but the edition revised in 1895 identifies the roundhouse as 'Smithy'.
White's Directory of 1848 describes Charles Martin as ' Farmer (and miller)'.
Kelly's Directories from 1859 to 1878 list George Bennett, corn miller, but by
1882 no miller is recorded. Thus there was still a windmill on the site until
1881, but it was converted to a smithy very shortly afterwards. The roundhouse
is not strong enough to support the cross trees of a late post mill, as at
Ramsey, Essex, so it was built for storage round the existing sub-structure of a
post mill, the walls being thicker at the base to resist the pressure of sacks.
The missing arch of the larger door, which never carried any substantial weight,
indicates how the main post was brought down without disturbing the walls.

Listing NGR: TL5049411156

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26621977

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)