Tower Mill
Potter Heigham tower windmill was built to replace an earlier postmill on or near the same site. The six storey red brick 54 foot tower was built for Simon Boyce by the Suffolk millwrights, Martins in 1849. Power was supplied by 4 double shuttered patent sails each with 9 bays of 3 shutters that were struck by rack and pinion. The white Norfolk boat shaped cap with its petticoat held an 8 bladed fan and a chain pole.
Some of the machinery still remained inside the mill but the sails and cap had gone, being replaced by a conical metal roof with a weather vane.
The mill once had sail frames 3 ft. by 9 ft. but these were later reduced to 27 ft. by 8 ft. 4 ins.
The stone nuts were taken out of gear by removing the supporting cotter and lowering the nut.
The bell alarm was set on a pivoted bar with a pin that was struck by a pin on the damsel.
A wood and iron crane was used for lifting the stones.
Past History
1849: Mill built on or near site of earlier postmill by millwrights Martins
1849: George Boyce
1850 : Simon Boyce, miller
Census 1851:
Simonds Boyce (29) b.Potter Heigham, miller
Mary Ann Boyce (32) b.Catfield
George Simons Boyce (2) b.Potter Heigham
Thomas Robert Boyce (2mnths) b.Potter Heigham
William Fowler (19) b. Beighton, miller's apprentice
Masson Hall (18) b.Potter Heigham, house servant
Elizabeth Foreman (36) b.Catfield, aunt
Emily Foreman (2) b.Gt Yarmouth, niece
Elizabeth Boyce (23) b.Potter Heigham, sister
Address: Yarmouth Road
White's 1854: Simon Boyce, corn miller
White's 1864: Simonds Boyce, corn miller & farmer (owner)
Kelly's 1879: Simon Boyce, miller & farmer
White's 1883: George Boyce, corn miller
1888: Simonds Boyce, miller, bankrupt
January 1889: Mill advertised for sale by auction due to the bankruptcy of Simonds Boyce
15th October 1890: William (Wim) Boyce took mill over
White's 1890: Samuel Pollard, miller, shopkeeper, carpenter, and postmaster
11th February 1898: Simon Boyce died aged 75
1900: W. Moore, tenant miller
Kelly's 1900: Arthur Moore, miller (wind)
June 1900: Mill advertised for sale by auction
Wednesday 18th July 1900: Mill withdrawn from auction at £495; plant & machinery inventory £130
15th October 1900: Edward Bristow took over mill
Kelly's 1904: Edward Bristow, miller (wind); William Boyce, manager
Kelly's 1908: Reba Bristow, miller (wind); William Boyce, manager
21st March 1910: Edward Bristow left for America
Kelly's 1912: Alfred Bristow, miller (wind); William Boyce, manager
Kelly's 1916: Reba Bristow, miller (wind); William Boyce, manager
August 1919: Mill bought by John Blaxell
24th September 1919: John Blaxell took over the running of the mill
24th September 1919: Ralph Playford Blaxell came to the mill
1920: Ralph Blaxell
Kelly's 1922: John Blaxell, farmer, Hall farm & miller (wind)
Kelly's 1925: John Blaxell, farmer, Hall farm & miller (wind)
1926: Mill working
28th June 1928: William Boyce left the mill
Kelly's 1929: John Blaxell, farmer, Hall farm & miller (wind)
1930: Mill derelict from outside
Kelly's 1933: Ralph Blaxell, miller
1st December 1933: Electric motor installed
1934: Mill derelict from outside
Kelly's 1937: Ralph Blaxell, miller
1937: Mill with 4 stocks, remnants of two sails and fantail
1949: Mill worked with an engine
Karl Wood painting 1950: Mill tower with cap and two stocks, one with a sails, fan with no blades
October 1953: New galvanised iron cap fitted to the tower by Arthur Webber & Sons Ltd.
1977: New joint owners - Maurice Cox & James Burchell (brothers in law) Sunways, Mill Road
8th June 1984: Ralph Playford Blaxell died aged 80
September 1984: Mill and house advertised for sale for £65,000 along with 2 houses and a bungalow
2009: Harriet Cox, owner
August 2009: Owners appeal for £1,000 for repairs to tower structure