Monkton Windmill, Ayrshire
| Monkton Mill, Monkton | |
|---|---|
Monkton Windmill
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| Origin | |
| Mill name | Monkton Vaulted Tower Mill |
| Grid reference | NS 36209 28048 |
| Coordinates | 55°31′07″N 4°35′45″W / 55.518628°N 4.5958582°WCoordinates: 55°31′07″N 4°35′45″W / 55.518628°N 4.5958582°W |
| Operator(s) | Disused |
| Year built | Early 18th Century |
| Information | |
| Type | Vaulted Tower Mill |
| Storeys | Two |
| No. of sails | Four |
| Other information | Converted to a dovecote in the early 19th Century. |
The Monkton Windmill, or Monkton Dovecote, was originally an early 18th century vaulted tower windmill located on the outskirts of the village of Monkton on the site of an Iron Age hillfort in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It was later converted into a dovecote and stood on the lands of the old Orangefield Estate.
The circa 9m high shell of this early 18th century vaulted tower windmill is 3.35m in diameter within, at ground level, walls with rubble walls 0.9m thick rising from a stone platform. The tower slightly tapers towards the top so that it does not become top heavy or distorted and the original wooden windcap and sails are absent. It has a well constructed vaulted basement 6 metres in length and has two storeys topped by a slated conical roof. A pair of opposed doorways once existed, set at ground level and there are two small windows on the first floor with a larger more recent south opening window.
In the early 19th century the windmill tower was converted for use as a dovecot or doocot. It once had a potence used to reach the nesting boxes and fireclay nesting boxes.
Monkton is a vaulted tower mill, a mill type that is rare in the UK outside Scotland The first record of the Monkton Windmill is 1773 and it was converted into a dovecote with fire-clay nesting boxes and a potence in the early 19th century. In 1971 the windmill was given a Grade A Listing. The tower was known locally in the 19th century by the Scots term 'Dooket'.
Dovecotes or 'Doocots' were a feature of most country estates and Orangefield was no exception. Such buildings provided a valuable source of fresh meat and eggs, adding variety to meals in the winter months. The large amounts of droppings, which built up on the doocot's floors, made a valuable general fertiliser and was also used in the production of gunpowder and in such processes as the dyeing of linen and in tanning leather.
Windmills were often built in areas of low rainfall or where the land was flat and the water current sluggish however in this coastal location the advantage was the expectation of strong winds at all times of the year.
The 1775 Armstrong map clearly shows a working windmill at Monkton with four sails.
This type of windmill is described as "...a fixed tower surmounted by a movable cap which supported the sails. The windcap was turned into the wind by hand. The structure, built of local materials, often stone rubble, stood on an artificial mound over a stone-built vaulted chamber or cellar. The latter often extended outwards from the base of the mill and provided a third floor, which acted as a receiving and dispatching room." The interior of the old windmill tower contained brick pigeon-holes in 1954 however these had been removed by 1980 and the tower had been re-roofed with a conical slated roof. Commonly the windcap could be moved by hand to face the wind using a pole.
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Wikipedia