* the “Brixton Windmill” – Brixton-London SW2

The 2^nd installment of my London Shoes ‘Brixton Trilogy’ relates to a historic landmark, that – if you didn’t know of its existence – you would never in a million years expect to find this building in a place like Brixton!!!

Situated on the other side of the River Thames in deepest South West London, Brixton hasn’t always had the best publicity – particularly throughout my lifetime.

It could be argued that some of Brixton’s past bad reputation was understandably fueled by the area’s notoriety for its past high crime rate – drugs related incidents – and civil unrest, all of which create easy pickings for the media. However, very similar to Hackney where I worked for over a decade, and a place that also had a lot of bad press – whenever I’ve visited Brixton, I’ve always found it to be a place with a proper positive vibe, full of interesting, friendly and creative people.

So – under gloomy grey London skies, and with my long-time mate Pete accompanying me for the day, my London Shoes went off in search of an historic landmark, that – as I said earlier – you would never expect to find in a place like Brixton………the “BRIXTON WINDMILL”

The ‘Brixton Windmill’ is situated at the end of Blenheim Gardens, a turning off Brixton Hill.

It was built in 1816 and is a four storey 49ft tall brick-built tower, that is today protected by its Grade II Listed status.

At the time it was built in the early 1800’s, Brixton – although just 3 miles from Charing Cross – was a rural area within the Country of Surrey – a far cry from the Brixton of today, which is as urban as urban can be, and now comes under the London Borough of Lambeth.

In 1817 a Johnathan Ashby of Westerham-Kent but living up Brixton way – bought a couple of acres of agricultural land to the south of Brixton Hill – on this land there stood a corn mill, plus several outbuildings that had not long been built. Within the buildings was a bakery which sold bread to the locals and beyond.

Records from 1827 show that the Ashby’s “wind corn mill” was valued at £500, with the machinery at the mill, including its mill stone, valued at an additional £100 – a lot of money for those times.

An Ordnance Survey Map of 1870 shows the layout of Brixton Mill with its attached buildings, some of which were built as high as the first floor of the windmill, allowing the miller the ability to access and work on the windmill’s sails. To the north of the Mill were houses that were occupied by millers, mill workers, bakers and their families.

The grounds surrounding the mill were a mixture of gardens, orchards and allotments. (again – far removed from today).

Throughout the Victorian era and the rapid onslaught of the industrial revolution – the rural developments surrounding London began to slowly decrease – as there was more and more demand for land to build residential housing on – and some serious money was being offered by developers for that land.

By the 1860’s the ‘urbanisation’ that was now surrounding Ashby’s Mill was said to be depriving the Mill of the ‘wind’ required to rotate its sails – the tall residential housing being blamed for obstructing free flowing wind.

Ashby’s Mill continued to operate as a ‘wind’ mill, right up until 1862 – when the business moved down to Mitcham in Surrey where it became a ‘water’ operated mill – but the Ashby family kept their Brixton Windmill going, using it as a storage depot because of its close proximity to central London.

In 1902 records show that a steam engine was installed in the Brixton windmill – which was then replaced by a gas engine.

The windmill was worked by engine until 1934 supplying supplied wholemeal flour to West End hotels and restaurants.

The Brixton Windmill survived WW2 bombing – and after the War there were proposals and some serious discussions around demolishing the Brixton Windmill and building residential flats on the land.

Fortunately, these proposal was rejected, and a decision was made to preserve and conserve the Brixton Mill.

In 1964, restoration of this historic landmark was taken on by what was then known as the ‘London County Council’ – who fitted new sails, new machinery and loads of other windmill type fixtures and fittings.

At Easter 1968, following all the restoration work, the Brixton Windmill was opened to the general public.

By 1971, ownership and responsibility of its upkeep had been passed to Lambeth Council. Further restoration works were undertaken in 1978 and 1983.

In 1995 the Brixton Windmill was placed on the official ‘Buildings at Risk Register’ – which meant that it was officially and legally protected from any planning and subsequent demolition.

By 2003 ‘The Friends of Windmill Gardens’ had been formed – with a view to restoring the Windmill and its surrounding area.

Numerous monetary grants throughout recent decades from sources such as The Heritage Lottery Fund / Lambeth Council / The Society for the Protection of Historic Buildings / The Horniman Museum plus many others – have helped keep this amazing building of London’s rural past – available for people to appreciate and experience.

Today – this remarkable 200yr old historic landmark, is a hub of activity – with literally loads of stuff taking place all year round – for example:- Guided Tours / Education Workshops / Bread Making / Walking Tours of Brixton / Gardening Groups / Tai Chi / Pilates / Yoga / School Visits / a Produce Shop…..plus many more events – you can even hire out the place for private hire.

Just down the road from the Mill site is an impressive ‘Brixton Windmill Mural’ – painted in 1983 – tidied up in 2012 – and proudly displayed on the side wall of a residential house

So – that’s the Brixton Windmill, which I had no idea existed, especially in that part of London. The only other working windmill I was aware of in the London area, is the ‘Upminster Windmill’ not far from London Shoes base in Romford – but Upminster’s past/recent history is far removed from Brixton’s, so it’s even more amazing to find this wonderful building still surviving and doing what it was built to do.

Anyway – having spent time locating and exploring the Brixton Windmill and its surrounding area – it was time to have a little liquid refreshment before heading off back home to the ‘good side’ of the River – and so me and my mate Pete ended up in the ‘Hope & Anchor’ pub in Acre Lane-Brixton, not that far from Brixton tube station.

There’s been an Inn/Tavern on the site since 1815. Records show it was known as the ‘Hope Tavern & Tea Gardens’.

In the 1830’s it was renamed the ‘Hope’ but reverted to the Hope & Anchor by the 1850’s when it was re-built with a bowling green at the back.

It was rebuilt again in the 1930’s – and won CAMRA ‘Pub-of-the Year’ in 1993.

Today – its garden is lined with loads of what they describe as private Tiki Huts (but what I call ‘beach-huts’) with plenty of other under cover seating.

Strange pub – more like a nightclub, but it served up a perfect Guinness – plus it’s one of the very few pubs in the Brixton area that actually opens mid-day…..most of them are now Gastro-Pubs catering for evening trade!!!

So – that’s – all about the “Brixton Windmill” for ya – hope you enjoyed this little story and its accompanying photos.

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See below the entire gallery of photos taken to support the Brixton Windmill blog