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Thaxted: John Webb's Mill receives grants worth £150,000

Trustees of Thaxted Windmill John Webb's WindmillTrustees of Thaxted Windmill
John Webb's Windmill was built in 1804 and operated for more than 100 years

A trust hoping to restore a town's last remaining windmill has described receiving two grants worth about £150,000 as a "huge turning point".

John Webb's Windmill in Thaxted, Essex, needs major restorative work, having suffered from extensive internal damage due to eroding brickwork.

A project to save the windmill has gained support from Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The Grade II* listed landmark has been closed to the public since 2018.

"The windmill needs a complete and utter refurbishment," said Mark Rickards, secretary of the Thaxted Windmill Trust.

"Damp is getting through, the brickwork needs repointing and the timbers are showing signs of stress."

Trustees of Thaxted Windmill Machinery inside John Webb's WindmillTrustees of Thaxted Windmill
The windmill has suffered extensive internal damage due to eroding brickwork

John Webb's Windmill was built in 1804 for John Webb, a local businessman and farmer. It operated for 100 years and remains the only windmill in the area.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund has given the windmill trust a grant of £116,902, while Historic England contributed £33,326.

The money will be spent on developing a project to prepare for major structural and millwright repairs.

The trust hopes to secure additional funding in summer 2024 to pay for the work. If successful, the windmill could be fully up and running by 2026.

Trustees of Thaxted Windmill John Webb's WindmillTrustees of Thaxted Windmill
A charity to conserve the windmill was set up in the 1970s and the red brick tower hosted a museum until 2018

Thaxted Windmill Trust, now a community interest company company (CIO), hopes to reopen the museum in future to help promote and protect endangered traditional skills such as millwrighting.

Over the next year, the trust will work with the local community to "reflect their interests and enthusiasms".

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