The Windmill
From Lacey Green History
1983. The Windmill turns again. This report, written below, is listed in Social Snapshots 1969-2000 inc
click Business for other businesses
click Wars for local details of the Boer War, WW1, WW2, & The Cold War
click Christopher & Barbara Wallis for this man who led the restoration team
2012 Report in Hallmark and photo of the windmill 'dressed' for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee
Recent Reports in Hallmark
and the older history of The Windmill and Windmill Farm
1923 the Windmill ceased to work.
WW2 The Home Guard used it as a looked out post.
LOOK-OUT POINTS. One of the main tasks for our Home Guard platoon was keeping watch at selected look-out points during the hours of darkness. One such point was the Windmill, another was a corrugated iron shed half sunk in the ground over on The Grubben and a third was a hut on Lodge Hill near Saunderton Lee.
LOOK-OUT DUTIES. The look-outs were manned on a rota system with squads of men doing guard duty, two hours on and four off, seven nights a week. There were rough sleeping arrangements so that men could get their heads down when off guard duty. In the windmill we used to ‘kip’ on the 2nd floor level above the entrance doorway and it was pretty draughty. (click The Home Guard for more information.)
The photo on the left is 1956, but the Home Guard did say it was very cold and draughty when they were on look-out duty during the war!
Hallmark May 2025
The Lacey Green Windmill Committee would like to personally thank the Editors of Hallmark for their support over the years and we are sad this is the last publication of the local magazine. Thanks to Mike Piercy, Editor for his hard work and sorry no one has come forward to take on the role.
Restoration of the windmill
We remain very grateful for all the work to restore the windmill over 50 years ago, if Christopher Wallace and his team of volunteers not worked so hard and been so innovative we would not have a Windmill in Lacey Green today. When you visit the windmill please take time to look at the detailed Information Boards, produced by Michael Hardy who has been involved with the windmill for many years. Much of this work has been recorded in editions of Hallmark to ensure the local community was kept informed of the work being undertaken.
Repairs
The windmill is looking fantastic after the recent work and we were pleased that the planned work was completed by the time we opened at the beginning of April. There is more work to be done and please look out for calls for volunteers if you fancy helping out with painting, maintenance or other more specialist jobs.
We are delighted with the stocks, sails, new fantail, door and winding gear. Lightening conductor cabling has been fitted which is very sensible given the location of the windmill, this will all be connected over the summer. If you haven’t visited yet we would love to see you, we are open every Sunday 2-5pm and Bank Holiday Mondays.
Other news
Group visits - we have hosted a number of visits recently and these remain very popular.
The Chiltern Society’s Heritage & Culture Festival visit in May 2025 was well received and we had many visitors over National Mills Weekend, an annual event across the UK.
Celebration event
The April celebration event in the LG&LR Village Hall was a great success, 80 people came along for a night of fun and dancing. Madeleine Smith and The Chinnor Troubadours, a local Ceilidh band were fabulous and helped make the evening. We are still finalising the amount raised on the night but it is approximately £1650 which will go towards the maintenance of the windmill. Thank you to everyone who came along, volunteers on the night, John & Laura Burnett for the lovely Chilli and to those who generously donated raffle prizes.
We will be holding another Ceilidh at the end of November 2025, same place and Ceilidh Band. Tickets will go on sale in August 2025 and will be advertised locally. In the meantime if you are interested please contact Jane on the email below, we have already sold tickets! We hope it will be another very successful evening.
Supporters always welcome, if you have any spare time and want to volunteer please get in touch with Jane by email: jane@laceygreenwindmill.org.uk
Jane on behalf of the LGW Committee.
Hallmark February 2025. Lots of exciting news about the windmill.
Restoration work. You will have seen that the stocks and sails are back on the windmill, it took longer than we thought but over the two days when the sails were refitted the weather was fantastic and the guys worked really hard. I received this lovely message from a Lacey Green resident which says it all ‘The sun is shining and I keep looking out of my kitchen window at our beautiful windmill, it makes me smile’.
We still have some work to do, the blades on the fantail have been remade by one of our volunteers, a new winding gear has been recast, again by one of our volunteers and two windows and a door are being replaced. We are so lucky to have such talented people around! Hopefully all this work will be completed by the time we open on Sunday 6th April.
The Granary will be painted and other ideas will no doubt come to fruition over the summer!
Other news. Open days during 2025. We open to visitors on Sunday’s from 6 April until 28 September, Bank Holiday Monday’s and Saturday 10 May for National Mills Weekend. Opening times are 14.00 to 17.00 hours. Please come along, we would love to see you.
Group visits - we hope this will become a regular feature as they are very popular. We have a few booked already including a Primary Academy visiting in March and a U3A group who visited last year. A local walking group will be visiting in June after a walk in the local area. We hope to arrange a visit from St John’s Cof E Primary School in Lacey Green, the headmistress is keen to support the windmill which is brilliant.
The Chiltern Society’s Heritage & Culture Festival is being held twice a year and a visit to the windmill is included as part of National Mills Weekend, an annual event across the UK.
Celebration event. The April celebration event in the LG & LR Village Hall has been very popular and sadly by the time Hallmark is published all the tickets will have been sold. We are considering organising another Ceilidh later in the year, October/November; we will keep you posted.
Supporters always welcome, if you have any spare time and want to volunteer please get in touch with Jane by email: jane@laceygreenwindmill.org.uk
Report by Jane on behalf of the LGW Committee
Hallmark February 2024. Windmill Cap Issues by Jane Herve
Lacey Green mill is a smock mill in which a wooden cap with sails sits on top of a tapering wooden body.
The cap is designed to turn to keep the sails pointing into the prevailing wind, and this is carried out automatically by an additional ‘fan tail’ mechanism fitted to the rear of cap.
If this fan ever receives any wind (because the its not in the ‘wind shadow’) then it is blown round by the side wind, and its rotation is geared down to gradually nudge the cap around until the fantail is once again in the wind shadow, meaning the sails are once again ‘weathered’, pointing into the prevailing wind.
Facing into the wind is obviously important if the mill is trying to get maximum power from the wind in order to grind grain.
Less obviously it’s highly sensible to maintain automatic ‘weathering’ even if a mill is not grinding. This is because the cap is not fixed to the tower, it just rests under its own weight, plus that of the sails, and in a severe storm, it is best if the mill is not ‘tail winded’, where wind pressure on the back face of the sails risks blowing the cap off.
At Lacey Green, the cap has been successfully tracking the prevailing wind since its original restoration and indeed we've added instrumentation to the cap which measures the cap orientation, and reports its alignment via the web, so that we can be sure it’s behaving itself without having to be on site.
Last September however, SmartMolen sent text alerts indicating that the cap was no longer keeping the sails in alignment, and the farmer whose property adjoins the mill reported loud clanking noises.
At the earliest opportunity the cap was manually turned to face SE (the predominant wind direction) and the fantail was strapped down.
Subsequent investigation found one of the rollers on which the cap rests had a chunk missing giving a ‘sticking point’, and the gear driving the shaft that turns the cap was badly worn. One particular tooth was damaged and skipping, causing the knocking sound and lack of cap movement.
The proposal is to get the cap back turning by renewing both the broken roller and the cast iron gear (repairs to cast iron are not advisable on what is a fairly highly stressed tooth). To do this the existing parts need measuring up and a wooden casting pattern made for each. The actual items can then be cast in iron, finished, and then fitted into place.
Putting the roller in under the cap is sensibly done with as much weight as possible off the cap (ie. sails and stocks removed), and access to the fan tail gear is sensibly done when a cherry picker (and cranes) are on site for other reasons.
With these parts replaced, the mill will once again track the wind, significantly reducing the risk of catastrophic storm damage.
Please check the Windmill website and the LG & LR Facebook page. We are looking at a number of fund-raising ideas including a supper and music night in the village hall and hopefully a dinner with a magician and music. If anyone has ideas for children’s events please let us know.
We will be open for the season from first Sunday in April to the end of September despite the sails not being on the windmill!report by ?
Hallmark February 2024. Windmill Repairs report by Chris Boll
The sails of the mill were removed last autumn. After over 40 years in Lacey Green weather, serious rot was found in the stocks (timbers to which the sails are fixed). They had rotted where they pass through the casting on the main axle, the windshaft.
They have lasted much longer than on many other restored windmills, thanks to the expertise of Chris Wallis and the original team of restorers.
There was a danger of a sail falling, and causing damage to itself, the mill structure, or anyone nearby.
The sails were removed the modern way using a crane, under the direction of professional millwrights, and are now laid out on the ground near the mill.
One stock was so swollen due to the wet weather it resisted removal, but will also come down before the sails are replaced.
The sails themselves only need minor repairs and repainting, which can be done by local volunteers.
To manhandle them and turn them over to access both sides, a team of fit folk will be needed.
The stocks will be made by millwrights, (possibly in Holland) of laminated timber, but this will depend on funds being raised.
We hope then to re-erect the sails later this year.
In addition to the sails, work needs to be done to repair the fantail, as well as a gear wheel and other parts of the fantail drive, which automatically turns the cap to face the wind.
This failed last year which is why the mill is at present always facing one way.
Hallmark June 2024.
Hallmark November 2024. We opened the windmill until the end of September and saw a steady number of visitors which was great. We are now closed until April 2025.
We have welcomed children from various groups and are delighted to have been contacted by a Primary Academy who will be visiting in March 2025.
The Committee plan to write to local groups over the winter to offer special visits to the windmill after hosting a local U3A. Please spread the word if you are part of a group and are interested in a special visit.
The Chiltern Society’s Heritage & Culture Festival included the windmill as a feature this year and we were pleased with the response. We will be writing to local schools to offer educational visits to encourage younger visitors.
Restoration work. The windmill has been painted and looks fabulous. We have a resident bird, maybe an owl in the cap which has provided streaks of white on the newly painted exterior, not much we can do about this but we are going to put up owl boxes to offer different accommodation. However, as someone said a windmill is probably a preferable place to live.
The stocks have arrived in the UK and both have been shaped to match the existing. They have been preservative treated, just waiting for them to dry so that they can be painted. We are hoping the weather doesn’t deteriorate too much so they can be put up on the mill in November…………fingers crossed.
Hallmark November 2023. The 2023 season ended at the end of September after another successful year despite having slightly fewer visitors. We have more volunteers covering our warden duties and there was only one closure due to weather conditions.
Our Wardens are a great group of people who are very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the windmill, we are fortunate to have them all. As ever we need more volunteers to help show visitors around the windmill, to help with keeping the site tidy and publicity to ensure we maintain the high profile of this wonderful building.
As we mentioned in the July 2023 edition, we are working closely with the Chiltern Society to plan a major fundraising campaign as we need to repair the mill.
The windmill is inspected annually and we have been monitoring issues with the stocks and the need to repair and paint the weather boards on the outside of the mill. Sadly this year itis apparent that we must do some major work on the stocks (the stocks support a pair of sails) and various parts associated, due to rot pockets from water getting into the wood.
To do this the sails have to be removed. This will allow for a full inspection to see what work is required to repair the workings of the windmill.
The committee have been working with IJP Restorers who will be doing the work and a cherry picker and crane will be on site to help remove the sails. The sails will be stored on site and we plan to paint them while they are on the ground so if anyone is handy with a paint brush we would love to hear from you!
We will keep you updated with the work, please check our website as we will post information here. If you want to be involved in our fundraising efforts we would be pleased to hear from you.
We will open as usual in April next year even if the 9 meter long sails are not back on the windmill. It will certainly give a different dimension to the windmill.
Supporters are always welcome, if you have any spare time and want to volunteer please get in touch with Jane: jane@laceygreenwindmill.org.uk.
Hallmark August 2023. The Windmill is open every Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday 28 August until the end of September 2023. Opening times are 14.00 – 17.00 hours. We always welcome visitors to this wonderfully restored building; this year we have had local visitors who have never been around the windmill and a couple from Australia.
I am sure you will have seen that we ‘dressed’ the windmill for Kings Charles III's Coronation and the bunting stayed on the sails for National Mills weekend in May. Putting bunting on sails has long been a tradition for special occasions.
We welcomed a visit from pupils and staff at St John’s C of E Primary School in June and we all had a great time. We divided the group into two with Chris Boll doing 2 tours of the windmill while the other half of the group drew some fabulous pictures of the mill. We hope to arrange more visits next year.
Maintenance of the windmill is always a priority, the mill will be painted later in the year and more major works are required by a specialist team. We are working with the Chiltern Society to plan a fundraising campaign and applying for grants to help fund the work. We will keep you up to date with progress.
Enjoy the rest of the summer and don't forget to visit if you have an hour or two!
Supporters always welcome, if you have any spare time and want to volunteer please get in touch with Jane: jane@laceygreenwindmill.org.uk.
Hallmark November 2022. By Jane Herve
We opened as usual from April until the end of September and as ever time seems to have gone so quickly. The year has been eventful for everyone, and on a positive note, we have welcomed regular visitors to the Windmill, although numbers have been lower this year. It seems this is a trend in many places, I guess we have not all adapted to life after the pandemic lockdown, we hope next year will see numbers increase again.
We were delighted to support the Loosley Row celebrations for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee by opening the Windmill. How lucky we were to celebrate Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 2, an amazing woman who had a profound effect in the UK and around the world. Little did we know she would not be with us a few months later.
We too were affected by the heatwave and made the decision to close to visitors on 2 Sundays due to the heat. The interior of the windmill usually has cool temperatures inside, but that proved not to be the case during the heatwaves.
Some of you may have noticed that the cap of the windmill is not turning into the wind at the moment, so the sails are always facing North. An urgent inspection has found that some of the machinery at the back of the cap at the top of the windmill has become worn and needs repairs. The Committee will be debating the next steps which will need parts of the machinery being removed for repair or replacement. We hope to ensure the windmill is able to get back to its magnificent self. We will keep you up to date with progress.
We also plan to paint the outside of the windmill next year, I am assured a trip in a Cherry Picker is quite an experience and provides excellent views from the windmill. We will see!
Thanks again to all of our wonderful volunteers who make the opening of the windmill possible, we could not manage without them all.
As ever, if you are interested in getting involved please contact: jane@laceygreenwindmill.org.uk
Hallmark August 2012. National Mills Day. report by Michael G Hardy, Hon. Secretary, Lace Green Restoration Committee.
Lacey Green Windmill had a successful National Mills Day on Sunday 13th May. Most importantly, we had a dry day, and we fitted a pair of sail-cloths in the morning. The sails turned rather reluctantly in a light wind, but by lunchtime the wind had picked up and kept the sails turning at a good speed all afternoon.
We had 186 visitors inside the windmill during the day, and as usual on that day, many hundreds of others walked up the drive to see the sails turning, visit The Horticultural Society's Plant Stall, and this year were also able to sample the products of a local producer of apple juice from Drovers Hill Farm.
For the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, we opened on three afternoons, over which we had 98 visitors despite two of the afternoons being very wet.
We had decided to dress the windmill for the occasion with bunting, but | also added a couple of Union Jacks on the top sails. There were plenty of flags flying ‘locally, but as the windmill is on ground 745 feet above sea level, and these flags were 55 feet above the ground, I think that they must have been amongst the highest flags for many miles around, flying at 800 feet above sea level.
Many thanks to John Burnett and Bob Gosling for helping me to put the decorations on the windmill on the Friday, and remove them on the Wednesday.
For the end of our 2012 season, we will be open from 2 to 5 on Sundays (and Bank Holiday Monday 27th August) until Sunday 30th September.
Admission is £2 per adult and £1 per child aged 5 to 15. For further details, please see our website at www.laceygreenwindmill.org.uk or telephone 01844 275871.
There is a new information board in the windmill for 2012 showing the vast difference in scale (and potential power output) between a historic windmill and a modern wind turbine.
There are other display boards showing how millstones operate, how grain and flour would move around the windmill, the dimensions of the windmill, details of the patent sails that the windmill had in its last working years, and a map aimed at showing the number and importance of local mills.
There is also a large display showing the history of the windmill since its earliest machinery was built around 1650, and how it was developed to keep up with new technologies until it fell out of use around 1915. Its decline over many years, despite some repairs being done is also detailed, and the major restoration of the windmill since 1971.
All these are in the basement (or meal floor), the three upper floors are deliberately kept as closely as possible to how the mill would have looked when it was operating.
1971 – 1986 The windmill is leased by the Chiltern Society. Volunteers completely restore it to working order.
Research Note. The following extract is from Hallmark 2006. (click 2014 Mike Highfield Obituary for the full article)
Extract - 'With the deaths of Jeff Hawkins in 2001, Christopher Wallis in 2006, and Mike Highfield in 2014, we have lost the original key members of the restoration team, together with their expertise, and detailed knowledge of how the restoration was achieved. However we are very clear that our duty now is to preserve the work that these three visionary men started, as it was them that encouraged all their helpers to achieve the near impossible, which has now been seen by the 49,000 visitors who have visited the inside of the windmill in the last 40 years.'
1983. LORD BERNARD MILES GIVES SIGNAL. THE WINDMILL TURNS AGAIN
Anyone who was at the Windmill on Saturday, April 23rd, to hear Lord Bernard Miles give the signal for the sails to turn again after 60 years, couldn’t fail to feel a great surge of excitement. In 1972 he said it could not be done, but was happy to eat his words now, some 11 years later. After setting the sails in motion Lord Miles entertained an invited audience of Chiltern Society members and workers to a “thank you” concert with his Buckinghamshire rural life anecdotes.
The Chairman of the Parish Council, on behalf of the village, thanked the small band of workers – mostly from outside the village – who had given up their Sundays for 11 years and in particular Christopher Wallis the engineer in charge, for his expertise and infectious enthusiasm. Also the Smith family, on whose ground the mill stands, for having their privacy invaded every weekend. He commented that perhaps the village people had not helped in the restoration as much as they might have done, but now it was completed, there certainly was a great pride in the achievement of this small band of dedicated workers in restoring “our mill”.
Hallmark January 1986. Report by Michael G. Hardy (Honorary Secretary). click Michael & Betty Hardy for more about Michael
Restoration work at Lacey Green Windmill is progressing well, during the last year you will have seen that the fantail has been. fitted, and it carries out its job of turning. the cap very well. Efforts are now being concentrated on the internal machinery of the mill and on restoration of the 19th century granary which has been moved up from the orchard of Town Farm, Princes Risborough. It would have been burnt in clearing the site for building houses, but is now in a position alongside Lacey Green windmill. It will eventually replace the workshed and be a fine partner for the windmill.
The windmill's new sail cloths were fitted for the first time on the Village Day and the wind turned the sails for five hours for the occasion, much to the delight of many people. The restoration committee are very grateful for the contributions to the restoration fund from the Village Day.
During 1985 over 2200 people have. visited the windmill and this is made possible by the kind help of our voluntary wardens who open the windmill and show people around on our open days. Some of the wardens are involved through the Chiltern Society and others are local residents, However, as people's circumstances change there is a gradual turnover of names on the list of volunteers and I would be pleased to hear from anyone who might be interested in helping us out on no more than two afternoons a year. You certainly do not need to be a windmill expert, but I find it very rewarding to be part of a team which makes it possible for the public to visit and enjoy England's oldest smock windmill and show them the results-of 14 years work to save it from dereliction,
1988 Report in Hallmark by Michael Hardy, Hon. Sec., Windmill Restoration Committee
Sunday 1st May 1988 was National Mills Day and this appropriate day was chosen to grind the first flour in Lacey Green Windmill for over 70 years. Many visitors came to see the windmill in operation and a sack of grain was indeed ground. The sails were not turning for very long in all, unfortunately the wind was very gusty that day, resulting in the sails being stationary one moment and then turning too fast the next. This meant frantic adjustments to the height of the runner stone being made to try and regulate the speed.
However, the main problem proved to be that many of the wooden teeth were not as sound as they appeared to be (being very worm-eaten inside) and quite a few of them broke off the great spur wheel and some from the brake wheel.
Nevertheless, it was an experience that I would not have missed and an amazing achievement for the volunteer restorers after 17 years dedicated work to England's oldest smock mill which had been written off by many of the country's windmill experts, Already some of the broken teeth have been replaced with new hornbeam ones.
We will, as usual, be open from 3 pm to 6 pm on Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays until 25 September.
2014 Hallmark. Michael Hardy wrote - "With the deaths of Jeff Hawkins in 2001, Christopher Wallis in 2006, and Mike Highfield in 2014, we have lost the original key members of the restoration team, together with their expertise, and detailed knowledge of how the restoration was achieved. However we are very clear that our duty now is to preserve the work that these three visionary men started, as it was them that encouraged all their helpers to achieve the near impossible, which has now been seen by the 49,000 visitors who have visited the inside of the windmill in the last 40 years."
THE HISTORY OF THE WINDMILL AND WINDMILL FARM
WINDMILL FARM
Windmill Farm and the Windmill had belonged to the Manor of Princes Risborough until 1823. The Enclosures of Princes Risborough took place. It stood on the vast Princes Risborough Common which covered much of Lacey Green, and some land on the hilltop of Loosley Row. The cattle from Princes Risborough were brought up here to graze. Windmill Farm and the Windmill were the only property on the Common. In 1823 the Common was divided into large portions and put up for sale. The part with the farm and windmill was bought by John Grubb, the Lord of the Manor.
LOOSLEY ROW TO LACEY GREEN
Windmill Farm had been in Loosley Row until 1823. However in 1823 the roads were altered and the land where it stood then became in Lacey Green
LEASED TO JOHN STEEL
1838 it was let to John Steel for 14 years, 1838 - 1852. See John & Hannah Steel
1841 CENSUS. William 'John' Steel, born 1811, tenant.
GRUBB ESTATE SOLD
1st June 1841 John Grubb, being bankrupt, put his vast estate up for sale. It was purchased the day before the auction by Lord Buckingham and Chandos. He also went bankrupt in 1848 so the estate was once more put up for auction.
1848 WINDMILL FARM and WINDMILL Sold at auction
Lot 10. A capital Smock Tower Windmill, millers house, and 8 acres 0 roods 35 poles of adjoining land occupied by Mr John Steel, on a lease for 11 years from Michaelmas 1838. Purchased by John Cheshire. See John & Ann Cheshire
1861 CENSUS. John Cheshire, miller. The farmland let to John Feasey, aged 34. 68 acres
1871 CENSUS. John Cheshire, miller.
1881 Census. John Cheshire, miller and farmer of 52 acres
18th May 1906 Sarah Floyd Made her Will and 30th July 1907 added a codicil to her Will. See John & Sarah Floyd
14th October 1907 CONVEYANCE. The executors of Sarah Floyd sold to George Cheshire for £120 - Schedule. All that piece of land situate at Lacey Green having a frontage of one hundred and twenty six feet, six inches to Lacey Green Road and a depth of three hundred and sixty one feet or thereabouts and containing by admeasurement one acre and being the hereditaments conveyed to the borrower by indenture dated 14th October 1907 made between Joseph Bliss and George Floyd.
1916 MORTGAGE. Mr George Cheshire, mortgagee to R S Wood Esq, mortgagor. Schedule. All that piece of land conveyed on 14th October 1907.
1916 ADDITION TO ABOVE MORTGAGE of 1916 - Further charge of £25 at 6%
1920. ADDITION to MORTGAGE of 1916. Further Charge of £18 at 6%
1st July 1942 MORTGAGE PAID. The Executors of R S Wood acknowledged that the costs and interest of £78 being the aggregate principal together with interest of the mortgages taken out in 1916 and 1920 were received, having been paid by Annie Elizabeth Cheshire, spinster and Margaret Millward , wife of William Henry Millward both of Windmill Farm, Lacey Green. (The mortgage document referring to 1916, 1920 and 1942 is archived in Lacey Green Village Hall)
8th October 1923. George Cheshire Made his Will appointing his daughter Margaret Cheshire as his executor and bequeathed unto his two daughters Annie Elizabeth Cheshire and Margaret Cheshire equally a piece of land known as 'Long Acre' on the Lacey Green Road and anything and everything whatsoever he might die possessed of.
12th October 1923 George Cheshire Died
1923 WINDMILL FARM INHERITED
MEMORANDUM that I the undersigned MARGARET CHESHIRE of the Mill, Loosley Row, Princes Risborough in the County of Buckingham, the Executor appointed by the Will of George Cheshire of the same address, miller, who died on the 12th day of October one thousand nine hundred and twenty-three and Probate bearing date 19th November 1923, have, as such Personal Representative ASSENTED to the devise to Annie Elizabeth Cheshire and me Margaret Cheshire of a piece of land known as "Long Acre" on the Lacey Green Road, Loosley Row, contained in the said Will. Dated thirty first day of December one thousand nine hundred and twenty-three. (this Assent document is archived in Lacey Green Village Hall)
7th June 1926 MARRIAGE. Margaret Cheshire intermarried with William Henry Millward.
WINDMILL SAILS STOP TURNING
When George Cheshire died in 1923, the windmill ceased to be worked.
CENSUS 1939
William H Millward 59 carpenter and joiner, Margaret Millward 59 farm dairymaid, Annie Cheshire 74 incapacitated, John Cheshire 68 retired windmill electrician.
Research Note. On 29th May 1942 an application for an official search under the Land Charges Act for Cheshire Annie Elizabeth of Windmill Farm, Lacey Green, Buck. Spinster and Millward Margaret of Windmill Farm, Lacey Green, Bucks, wife of William Henry Millward, gave the following details for a search of 'Long Acre' fronting the Lacey Green Road near the 'Windmill' Public House, no 199 on Ordinance Map (copy archived in Lacey Green Village Hall)
WW2 WINDMILL LOOKOUT POINT
The windmill was used as a look out point at night on a rota 2 hours on and 4 hours off, 7 nights a week by the Home Guard and their cadets. (They “kipped” on the 2ND floor above the door, it was very draughty
WINDMILL FARM IS LET
In 1952, when not able to look after herself any more Margaret moved to Princes Risborough and lived with Dorothy, her niece. She now let the farm to George and Annie Smith. George had previously worked at Culverton Farm, living in a cottage there. They had 2 sons, Mick and Les. Les worked on the farm, Mick worked elsewhere.
DOROTHY LUCY WITCHER INHERITS WINDMILL FARM. THE LAST OF THE LINE.
Dorothy, the daughter of Sidney “John” Cheshire, was the last Cheshire to own Windmill Farm and the Windmill. She inherited it 1965 from her aunt Margaret Millward, nee Cheshire.
WINDMILL FARM SOLD
1966 Conveyance Annie and George Smith, the tenants, purchased Windmill Farm from Alfred and Dorothy Witcher. Les Smith, son, worked on, then ran Windmill Farm In 1964 Les had married Rosemary Phillips.
1971 – 1986 The windmill is leased by the Chiltern Society. Volunteers completely restore it to working order.
1983. LORD BERNARD MILES GIVES SIGNAL. THE WINDMILL TURNS AGAIN
Anyone who was at the Windmill on Saturday, April 23rd, to hear Lord Bernard Miles give the signal for the sails to turn again after 60 years, couldn’t fail to feel a great surge of excitement. In 1972 he said it could not be done, but was happy to eat his words now, some 11 years later. After setting the sails in motion Lord Miles entertained an invited audience of Chiltern Society members and workers to a “thank you” concert with his Buckinghamshire rural life anecdotes.
The Chairman of the Parish Council, on behalf of the village, thanked the small band of workers – mostly from outside the village – who had given up their Sundays for 11 years and in particular Christopher Wallis the engineer in charge, for his expertise and infectious enthusiasm. Also the Smith family, on whose ground the mill stands, for having their privacy invaded every weekend. He commented that perhaps the village people had not helped in the restoration as much as they might have done, but now it was completed, there certainly was a great pride in the achievement of this small band of dedicated workers in restoring “our mill”.
Hallmark February 2025.
THE MORTGAGES of JOHN CHESHIRE, MILLER, born 1808
SCHEDULE
All that close of arable land situated at Lacey Green, adjoining the close on the east side, known by the name of “ROAD GROUND”, 15 acres- 1 rood-23 poles. Lately part of a certain farm called “Kiln Farm”, which was then in the occupation of Charles Webster, after William Floyd and which close was in the occupation of John Cheshire
ALSO all that land comprised part of a certain allotment purchased by John Grubb Esq. of the Common for inclosing the parish of Princes Risborough, 1823, no.636 on the inclosures map, apart from that part which was conveyed to the Chapel (Chapel of Ease of Princes Risborough built at Lacey Green) (Glebe land)
1856 Mortgagee Arabella Goodall, spinster, £900 + interest @ 4.5% per annum for 5 years.
Mortgagee William Woods of Bedford. £200 + interest
25th JANUARY 1861. CONVEYANCE OF MORTGAGE
New mortgagee Frances Josephine Irving is conveyed the mortgage of £900, by the executors of Arabella Goodall.
SCHEDULE
All that piece of land at Lacey Green called “The Hillock” with the dwelling erected thereon.
ANOTHER £900
July 14th 1861, Frances Josephine Irving advanced another £900
July 14th 1861 Mortgage with William Woods paid off.
May 18th 1875 John Cheshire pays £500 off his £1,800 mortgage.
NEW MORTGAGEE FOR £600, (part of the mortgage owing to F.J.Irving).
Mary Ann Buckmaster took over £600 of worth of mortgage owing to Frances Josephine Irving. Schedule. A windmill and premises. Mary Ann was John Cheshire’s married daughter.
29th MARCH 1877. ACTION TO RECOVER DEBT
MARY ANN BUCKMASTER brought an action against John Cheshire in the High Court of Justice to recover £600 with interest. His Lordship, the Master of the Rolls in Chambers ordered that the action should go to trial conditionally upon the defendant securing the said £600 and interest, if any, the plaintiff succeeding in the recovery in the said action.
JULY 13th1877. INDENTURE
Reciting £575 was then due and in conclusion £575 was paid to Mary Ann Buckmaster.