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Lacey Green windmill is recognised for being the oldest smock windmill in the UK
Buckinghamshire’s Lacey Green Windmill received a prestigious Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Engineering Heritage Award on Sunday 14 July.
The octagonal smock windmill joins the likes of the Vulcan Bomber, the E-Type Jaguar and Tower Bridge. The windmill was presented with the award by John Wood, Chairman of the Institution’s Heritage Committee to Barbara Wallis, on behalf of the Windmill Restoration Committee, at a special ceremony at the windmill. Barbara Wallis is the widow of Christopher Wallis who led the restoration project.
John Wood, Chairman of the Institution’s Engineering Heritage Committee, said:
“Lacey Green is the first windmill to be recognised with an Engineering Heritage Award, and it joins the likes of the Vulcan Bomber, the E-Type Jaguar and Tower Bridge.
“Lacey Green Windmill is a very worthy recipient. The windmill has been wonderfully restored and maintained, and has been given this award in recognition of it being the oldest smock windmill in the UK
“The windmill is one of the earliest examples of the application of technology to the problem of processing product for the benefit of mankind; and this 17th Century mill is a fantastic and wonderful early example of industrialisation.
“This award is also very much in recognition of the hard work of Christopher Wallis and the dedicated team of volunteers of The Chiltern Society who restored the windmill, as well as the volunteers who continue to keep the windmill in such fantastic condition today.”
Michael Highfield, Chairman of the Windmill Restoration Committee, said:
“It is a great honour for the windmill to receive this award.
“It is a tribute to the original builders, who never presented a paper to a learned society, and may not have been able to write one if they had been invited.
“Their proficiency with saw and measuring rod are not in doubt however.
“The restoration work has all been done by volunteers and it is only thanks to the work of engineer Christopher Wallis and a team of dedicated volunteers of The Chiltern Society who restored the windmill between 1971 and 1986 that the windmill still stands.”
Lacey Green windmill is the country’s oldest smock windmill, with its internal wooden machinery dating from around 1650.
There were various engineering inventions made in the late 18th and early 19th centuries to automate aspects of operating windmills, also improving efficiency and safety. Lacey Green has many examples that show how the windmill was adapted to keep up with advancing technologies.
The windmill stopped operating in 1915, but repairs were made in the 1920s and 1930s, after which it fell into disrepair. It was restored in the 1970s and 1980s and has been regularly opened to visitors since 1976. The sails turned again for the first time in April 1983.
For further details about the windmill, see www.laceygreenwindmill.org.uk