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The Friends of Bidston Hill Website

The Windmill

We do not know when the first windmill was built on Bidston Hill. The mill is mentioned in a lease of Bidston Manor House made in 1596. Another document dated 10 th May 1609 tells us that Richard Kellie leased Bidston Manor, court, orchard and mill to William of Arrowe.

The earliest windmills on the Hill stood about 20 yards to the north of the windmill that we can see today. There are two trenches dug into the sandstone in the shape of a cross, you can see it quite clearly. This type was known as a peg mill, made of timber it was manually pushed round to meet the prevailing wind. To push the mill around, holes were cut in the sandstone so a grip could be made and they are visible still after two hundred years

The present mill, known as a tower mill, built c1800, was more reliable. The cap on the top could be moved around by a system of pulleys to catch the wind.

One of the millers was killed when he walked out of the mill door and was hit by one of the sails. (Brown bread according to Tony Roberts!). Another story tells us that a tinker who was selling pots and pans went to call on the miller. He tied his donkey to one of the sails. While inside talking to the miller, the wind blew, the sails turned, and the donkey and all the pots and pans were lifted into the air. By 1875 the mill was no longer in use and it was allowed to fall into decay. The last miller was a man called Youds. In 1894 Mr R. S. Hudson, a soap manufacturer, paid for the mill to be restored.

The Mill was open to the public on the first Sunday of every month, until 2001 when a Health & Safety inspection forced its closure until further notice.

The Friends of Bidston Hill are investigating strategies for reopening it in due course, possibly as an educational and tourist attraction.

Note: We are aware of the damage to the roof, sustained between 2002 and 2005 and the Council have allocated a sum of over £45,000 for the repair of the roof and the restoration of the fabric of the Mill. We expect that this work will take place over the summer of 2005

We hope to develop plans to create an active tourist attraction in the Windmill by the year 2008 with an interactive display of the history and the local natural environment.