Wiltshire volunteers needed for Wilton Windmill spring clean

Wilton Windmill was built in 1821

More volunteers are being sought to give a 203-year-old working windmill a spring clean before it reopens.

Wilton Windmill in Wiltshire is the only working windmill in Wessex and makes wholemeal stone-ground flour.

Ahead of the Easter weekend, its workers say they need help oiling its gears and doors, lime-washing the walls and reassembling the millstones.

Wilton Windmill Society chair David Jackson said it needs lots of looking after.

"People ask regularly how often a week do we mill and the bottom line is we only mill when the wind blows," he said.

"We need about 16 knots of wind to make her go round.

Mr Jackson said a working party gathers annually to help clean and reassemble the windmill's working parts

"We're very proud of the fact that we actually operate so everything here is maintained so that we can mill every time the wind is strong enough to do so."

He said the mill has to be cleaned and reassembled at the beginning of the season every year, but needs more pairs of hands to help with the work.

"During winter time we dismantle all of the casings around the stone so that we can clean them and that they don't get mouldy during the winter lay-off period," he said.

"We have a working party and everything gets cleaned and put back and the casings put around so that we're ready to mill as soon as there is any wind."

Wilton Mill reopens from 31 March.