MK LANDMARK BRADWELL WINDMILL IS BACK IN PLAY

One of the city’s most distinctive landmarks will be open for business again on selected days this summer.

Bradwell Windmill, which featured on the first set of postcards and adverts for life in the new city, will be opening to the public on the last Sunday of each month.

And as well as seeing the results of a £160,000 MK Council-funded refurbishment, people should also be able to see the mill in action.

Milton Keynes is an important site for windmills, having been home to the first mill ever excavated in Europe, found at Great Linford and thought to date from 1220.

Bradwell Windmill is thought to be the second windmill built in Bradwell village, replacing an earlier post mill on the site of Summerfield School, which sat on a post in order that the whole structure could be turned so the sails caught the wind.

The mill we now see just off the V6 Grafton St was erected around 1805 and just about made a living for the families that owned it, milling grain for local farmers. However, it was less reliable than the area’s water mills, for example along the Ouse at Old Wolverton, and by the 20^th century it was derelict. The Council acquired it for just £80.

Its return to health for the first time in 139 years has been achieved through a partnership between the building’s stewards, Milton Keynes Museum, and Milton Keynes Council, who funded the work of millwrights Owlsworth IJP.

Like the Museum itself, Bradwell Windmill is maintained and operated by volunteers.

“The restoration has been in two areas: firstly making the building watertight, and secondly restoring the sails and the milling mechanism so it can do what it was intended to do," explained lead volunteer Matthew Nayler.

“Our intention is for these open days to have the mill milling even if we are not initially in a position to have flour for sale.”

Paul Sanders, Assistant Director, Community Facilities for MK Council, said: “This is a rare and valuable site nationally and a significant heritage asset. Although Milton Keynes is often thought of as a new city we have many important historic sites and it is vital we do everything we can to preserve these for generations to come. The expansion of Milton Keynes Museum, which we are helping to fund, will play a key part in telling the story of this area’s role in our nation’s history.”