These days Windmill Hill is just a name without significance for many people, other than having a dangerous bend in the road, but from the early nineteenth century a towering windmill stood there as a familiar building and landmark. It could be seen for miles around due to its high location and like Upchurch church it was used a navigation point for boats sailing along the River Medway. During the second half of the nineteenth century the building became the property of farmers ‘Wakeley Brothers’ but by the beginning of the twentieth century it was no longer in use. However, the owners allowed it to continue standing as a familiar landmark that had existed for about 100 years.
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Wakeley's Mill 1903 |
Timber built with a brick base, old and well tarred wood, the windmill was highly inflammable and this eventually proved to be costly because on Thursday September 8th, 1910 it caught fire. A farm worker noticed a narrow plume of smoke coming from it after he had returned from lunch. Due to the inflammability of the building the fire took hold quickly and the high leaping flames and black smoke could be viewed for miles around. This caused crowds of people to converge on the scene to view the spectacle. Eventually, after a long delay, the Rainham Fire Brigade engine arrived but there was little that could be done to save the windmill. Nobody could get anywhere near the fire because it was so hot and intense. The situation worsened when the burning sails from the windmill broke off and fell into a nearby orchard causing considerable damage to young fruit trees that had just come into bearing. Many of these were badly burnt or scorched.
Police constable Jenner and Sergeant Ashton from Rainham assisted by several passers by were able to rescue some pigs in a sty close to the blazing windmill otherwise the animals would have been burnt alive. A timber built store owned by Mrs. Stokes, wife of late farmer Sam Stokes, also caught fire but the fire brigade were able to extinguish the blaze. Water was obtained from a standpipe at the top of Windmill Hill but the pressure remained low due to the high location and this slowed down the firemen who fought the fire for about three hours.
Eventually the fire subsided but the windmill was completely destroyed and the nearby fruit orchard badly burnt. Although Mrs Stokes store survived it was badly damaged. Several carts, a collection of fruit baskets, wheat and grain inside the store were destroyed or damaged. The cost to Wakeley Brothers was about £250 and Mrs. Stokes lost about £100. Both parties were later able to claim insurance but the windmill, such a significant landmark on the landscape, disappeared for ever and only the name and a few photos survive.
David Wood, who was born and raised in Upchurch, is able to write from personal experience about many people and aspects of the village and of changes that have taken place over the years making ‘Memories of Upchurch’ a very readable book and a detailed historical study of the village.
David Wood's book ‘Memories of Upchurch’ is available direct from David on: david3702001@yahoo.co.uk price £12 + p+p £2.
David Wood
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