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Sail installation to start on much-loved windmill

John Bray
BBC News, Caversham
BBC Chesterton windmill without it sails and surrounded by security fencing.BBC
Chesterton Windmill as it looks now. The wooden sails were removed in 2021 on safety grounds after cracks were spotted

One of the best-loved and most-photographed monuments in the West Midlands is about to be fully restored.

Over the next week, specialist engineers are expected to hoist new sails back on to Chesterton Windmill in Warwickshire.

The tower, which can be seen from the M40 motorway near Warwick Services, has stood on a hilltop overlooking the village of Chesterton, just off the Fosse Way, for almost 400 years.

There are more than 15,000 photographs on Instagram where the location is tagged as Chesterton Windmill.

A blue forklift truck lifts wood on to a flat bed lorry in a yard.
Two men wearing high-vis jackets and white hard hats prepare the sails to be lifted on to a lorry.
The new sail parts have been built at Owlsworth Conservation at Caversham near Reading. They were taken to Warwickshire on Wednesday morning
Work on the new sails started last September. The stocks were first, which are the large wooden beams to which the windmill's sails will be attached

Ayub Khan, Warwickshire County Council's Head of Libraries, Heritage & Culture, and Registration Service, said: "Chesterton Windmill is an iconic monument both in Warwickshire's landscape and as part of our country's history.

"It won't be long until the sails are back on the windmill and it's going to be a very exciting day to watch their installation."

A photograph of Chesterton Windmill with four white sails. In the foreground are green fields.
A photograph of Chesterton Windmill with four white sails.
This is how Chesterton Windmill looked in February 2015. The site has drawn large numbers of photographers with sweeping panoramas on offer together with often-stunning sunsets
The windmill was built in about 1633, probably by Sir Edward Peyton, who was Lord of the Chesterton Manor House

A heritage report prepared for Stratford-on-Avon's planning committee said: "Chesterton Windmill is of extremely high historical, architectural and cultural significance, which is reflected in its designation as both a Grade I listed and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

"It is one of only four windmills in England to be classified as such.

"The windmill is of national importance."

Warwickshire County Council A black and white image showing scaffolding around Chesterton Windmill when repair work took place in the late 1960s and early 1970s.Warwickshire County Council
The windmill was restored between 1965 and 1974 by Warwickshire County Council, which is now guardian of the windmill

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