Following extensive restoration work between August 2020 and April 2023 to save the mill from collapse it will reopen to visitors again once a month.
The earliest written record that we have is from 1636. This style of mill has barely changed from the 13th century, so it may be older. In 2021, scientists attempted to age the timbers in the mill and concluded that the tree that provided the huge timber for the main post in the mill was cut down during 1513-49, making it the oldest wood in any mill in the UK
Bourn Mill is an open trestle post mill; the entire weight of the body is supported on a central post, which is then supported by a trestle. The sails of the mill have to face squarely into the wind and to achieve this the entire mill is rotated around the central post – a surprisingly easy, but dramatic, task for two or three people. There are only around 50 trestle post mills left surviving in the UK, 5 of which are in Cambridgeshire.
Cambridge Filmworks worked with Cambridge Past, Present & Future and Cambridge ACRE to document this newly renovated piece of English heritage.
To learn more about Bourn Windmill, please visit:
