Ashdon Windmill Trust
The heart of Ashdon
Description
Bragg’s Mill is a post mill with a single-storey roundhouse. It carries four Patent sails mounted on a wooden windshaft with a cast-iron poll end. Two of the sails are double-shuttered and two are single-shuttered.
The mill drives two pairs of millstones, arranged Head and Tail. It is winded by a tailpole and stands 34 feet (10.36 m) high to the roof.
Trestle and Roundhouse
Prior to the recent restoration, the lower crosstree had been clamped at a quarter-bar joint. The crosstrees stand within 3 feet 4 inches (1.02 m) of ground level.
The brick piers on which the crosstrees rest had been tarred, while the crosstrees themselves were painted white. This provides evidence that the mill was originally constructed as an open trestle mill.
Both crosstrees are of oak:
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Upper crosstree: 24 feet (7.32 m) long, measuring 13 × 12 inches (330 × 305 mm) in section.
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Lower crosstree: 12 × 11½ inches (305 × 292 mm) at the ends, thickening to 13½ inches (343 mm) at the centre.
The main post measures 17 feet 6 inches (5.33 m) in length and is 27 inches (686 mm) square at its base.
Body
The body of the mill measures 19 feet 10 inches by 11 feet (6.05 × 3.35 m) in plan.
At some stage, the body was extended at the rear to accommodate a bolter. Originally, the mill body measured only 16 feet 6 inches (5.03 m) in length.
The crown tree is 20 inches (508 mm) square at the ends, thickening to 20 × 23 inches (508 × 584 mm) at the centre.
The side girts measure 6 × 17 inches (152 × 432 mm) in section.
Sails and Windshaft
The windshaft is wooden with a cast-iron poll end, likely fitted at the same time that the Patent sails were installed. The mill was originally constructed with common sails.
Machinery
The clasp-arm wooden head wheel, now 7 feet 4 inches (2.24 m) in diameter, was converted from compass-arm construction.
The wooden tail wheel has been similarly converted and measures 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) in diameter.
The mill was originally built with a single pair of millstones. The second pair was probably added when the mill body was extended at the rear.
