Heritage windmill cap restored by volunteers

The five tonne cap was reinstated at the head of the windmill in Sandwich by volunteers on Tuesday

A windmill cap weighing five tonnes has been reattached to an 18th Century Kentish mill as part of a community restoration project.

White Mill in Sandwich was built in 1760 and has been without its iconic cap since 2018.

The self-funded restoration project is estimated to have cost £25,000.

Volunteers hope to reinstate the landmark as a functioning flour mill within the next few years.

Volunteers donated their own time and skills to keep the renovation costs down and raised funds for the work with community events, heritage open days and craft fairs at the site.

Head restorer Martin Smith said: "It's a link to our past as ordinary people.

"This whole site is a rural heritage centre, it's what people like us would have been doing a couple of hundred years ago."

The cap was removed from White Mill in 2018

The windmill's sails are now set to be replaced before the structure can begin milling flour.

If successfully completed, volunteers say the White Mill Heritage Centre will become one of the oldest working mills of its kind in England.

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