The Old Windmill, Brisbane

The Old Windmill
The Old Windmill, Wickham Park
Origin
Mill name	The Old Windmill
Mill location	Spring Hill, Queensland
Year built	1828
Information
Purpose	Corn mill
Type	Tower mill
Storeys	Four storey tower
No. of sails	Four sails

The Old Windmill is a heritage-listed tower located in Wickham Park, on Wickham Terrace in Spring Hill, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is the oldest building in Queensland.

The Old Windmill was built in 1828 during colonial times by convicts for grinding grains, such as wheat and maize. The Old Windmill originally had wind-powered sails. The grinding of the grains was done by treadmill from October, 1828, with the wind-powered sails being used from December, 1838, after being repaired by Andrew Petrie. The treadmill was dismantled in 1842 when the convict settlement was closed.

After the murder of two members of a surveying party near Mount Lindesay in May 1840, three Aboriginal men were apprehended and tried for the crimes. In July 1841, the two surviving Aborigines were hanged from a beam from an upper window of the windmill.

Land leases in the wider Brisbane area were issued under s.28 of the Regulations of 29 March 1848 and were nominally one mile square sections within a grid defined by (magnetic) north/south/east-west section lines. The grid had its origin at the convict-built windmill in Brisbane.

On 20 January 1862, the Old Windmill became the first home of the Queensland Museum.

The Old Windmill was later used as a signal tower, and is now used as a weather observatory. Towards the end of the 19th century, the tower was encased in a cement render to protect the brick and masonry from rainwater damage. The current render dates from a 1988 refurbishment, and is scored to imitate the stone blocks it covers.