Tower Windmills in Medieval England: A Case of Arrested Development?

Windmills became a very common sight on medieval landscapes from the late twelfth century onwards, particularly the mostly timber post-mill variety. Much rarer were tower windmills, where the wooden cap carrying the sails rotated on the top of a high stone tower. Despite the fact that tower windmills were known from at least the late thirteenth century and seemingly had advantages of durability and as attractive show-pieces for medieval landlords, they were never built in any great number during the medieval period. Our article surveys the six certain, probable and possible cases of tower windmills in medieval England and then tries to explain why there were not more of them. Their greater cost relative to post-mills was one obvious reason. But another, we argue, was the reluctance of carpenters to build them, since the requirement of constructing the stone tower meant that much of the work was given over to masons. In order to ensure their continued dominance in the lucrative windmill business, carpenters seem to have preferred promoting the more timber-based post-mills, which they managed to do with great success to the end of the medieval period and beyond.