Ancient windmill restored to life
For the past 35 years dedicated volunteers have been reconstructing a historic windmill in Oxfordshire
On the edge of an Oxfordshire village at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, an 18th century wooden windmill is being recreated. Four white sails contrast with the dark wood-clad body. This is Chinnor Windmill, the only surviving six-footed postmill in Britain. It stands on six wooden legs, which themselves sit on brick columns. Built in 1789, the mill served the community for more than 130 years. It only ceased to be used in 1923 when a steam mill proved more efficient. The windmill was left to decay, until in 1967 it was dismantled to make way for houses. Today, relocated to a new home 150 yards down a country lane from its original site, the windmill is rising phoenix-like. Since the 1980s, a dedicated group of volunteers have spent more than 15,000 hours rebuilding it. “Chinnor is a postmill, designed so that everything moves around the central post,” says Adrian Marshall, the project manager. “The buck, the main top part, is mounted on the central post around which it rotates. Because our weather changes direction so much, the sails need to face different directions. “The purpose of any mill is to harness energy and use it to overcome laborious, backbreaking work. It can take a large percentage of the day to grind grain and create enough flour to make bread. That’s a lot of drudgery for a lot of people. On a good day a windmill can produce up to 30 horsepower, the equivalent of 90 men.” Living in the nearby village of Haddenham, Adrian has been involved with the project since 1992 after visiting local windmills during a treasure hunt car rally. “As an engineer I like to see how things work,” he says. “This is the ultimate challenge. Restoring Chinnor Windmill is about adding to the place. Villagers see it as an asset.”
Rescuing the pieces
When the mill was taken down, two enthusiasts took ownership of the surviving parts. They stored structural timbers and wooden gears at their homes in Norfolk and Saffron Walden with the intention of rebuilding the mill. In the end, these components remained untouched until a team headed by professional millwright Chris Wallis from Little Marlow intervened in 1980. “The original volunteers – local enthusiasts – had just finished the restoration of nearby Lacey Green Windmill and were looking for their next challenge,” explains Adrian. “They brought the parts back and created working drawings from old photographs.” Approximately half the mill survived. “We had one corner post and a lot of roof, which was well defined. These gave us the windmill’s height of 37ft 9in,” says Adrian. By overlaying old photographs it was possible to estimate the remaining dimensions. The buck is 12ft 2in wide by 20ft 8in long and 24ft 3in high (3.7 x 6.3 x 7.4m). Pictures of each face of the mill were scanned onto a computer. This generated working drawings and a virtual three-dimensional model. At the same time Chinnor Parish Council agreed to support the restoration. Councillors allowed the mill to be built on their Whites Field site.
The light by the barn that shines all night pales at dawn when a little breeze comes. A little breeze comes breathing the fields from their sleep and waking the slow windmill. William Stafford, ‘The Light By The Barn’
Stark against the horizon, a huge slab of rock rises out of the crashing waves of the North Sea. Opposite it, a ruined castle stands proudly on top of a towering spit of land, thrust into the broad and windswept seas. Further inland another castle is testament to the wild past of this stretch of the East Lothian coast. Between them is the ancient town of North Berwick. Huddled around its harbour, its narrow streets have hosted pilgrims, fishermen and holidaymakers over hundreds of years. This is a town in which history runs deep. The ruins of both Tantallon Castle on the clifftops and Dirleton further inland are magnificent. It is, however, the 340 million-year-old volcanic island of Bass Rock that dominates both the skyline and the history books. Rising to an imposing height of 393ft (120m) this seven-acre hulk is stranded two miles east of North Berwick at the exposed entrance to the Firth of Forth. Sheer cliffs make up three sides of this immense plug of rock. To the south is a gentler slope, home to the ruins of a castle dating to 1405. The history of human habitation here extends much further back, to the 8th century when a hermit, St Baldred, is believed to have sought refuge upon it. The 15th century castle was built by order of the then owners of Bass Rock, the Lauder family. The following century saw a garrison of 100 soldiers stationed on the Rock, maintaining it as a symbol of strength and influence. They survived on vegetables grown on its then grassy summit, fish and the meat of gannets. To keep warm, they burnt the birds’ nests. By the late 1600s, the castle had become a notorious jail for opponents of the British government of Charles II. Prisoners were kept in terrible conditions, denied access to fresh water other than that which sat in rock puddles. When James VII of Scotland and II of England was sent into exile in 1688, it was used to hold rebel Jacobites, his supporters. In 1691, four escaped from their cells, seized the Rock and held it for three years. They were supplied and supported by the French navy before finally surrendering.
Bass Rock gannets
By the 18th century, the rock was rented to a tenant who grazed sheep on it. Bass mutton was sold as a local delicacy, valued for its rarity and remote farming. However it was the gannets that were the biggest attraction. Thousands of these noisy, agile seabirds have made their home on the Rock for centuries. They were hunted and sold in local markets. In 1837 the price for a plucked and cooked bird was 8d. The fat of young gannets was believed to be a cure for gout and rheumatism. The eggs were another delicacy, and were even served to Queen Victoria. Known as the harrying, the killing of the birds was carried out by men who were let down the cliff faces on the end of ropes. They would move from nest to nest, knocking the birds on the head and dropping them into the sea. Here men in boats would pick them up. Today the harrying is no more, and the gannets are left alone. With more than 150,000 birds there between January and October every year, it is the largest single island colony in the world for these sizeable birds. When the weather is right, boat trips out to the Rock give visitors the experience of seeing the birds up close. “All of a sudden the birds appear, swirling and swarming around the rock,” says Liz Drake, of the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick. “The size of them strikes you straight away, and they look right at you with very blue eyes. The noise and the smell is what you notice next!”
Safety for shipping
Bass Rock is also home to a lighthouse. This was first activated on 1 November 1902. For 86 years, its keeper climbed the 48 steps to the top of the tower every day to light the lamp until it was finally automated in 1988. Today it is controlled remotely from the Edinburgh headquarters of the Northern Lighthouse Board. The 66ft (20m) high lighthouse was built at a cost of £8,087, the equivalent of £2.5 million today, by a cousin of the author Robert Louis Stevenson. The writer spent many holidays on the mainland opposite Bass Rock, and it is believed Treasure Island was inspired by the wild coastline.
Regardless of location along this coastline, Bass Rock looms large on the horizon, standing sentinel in the North Sea. daring high divers The close connection between Bass Rock and its colony of gannets is reflected in their scientific name of Morus Bassanus. Britain’s largest seabird, gannets have a wing span of approximately 6ft (1.8m). When hunting for fish they descend into the sea at speeds of more than 50mph, reaching depths of 30ft (9m) below the surface. “Their skulls are designed to survive the impact, while their nostrils are positioned inside their beaks,” says Liz Drake, of the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick. “They also have air-sacs under their skin around their face and chest to absorb the blow, much like the airbags in a car. “The gannets are fascinating. They’re very territorial, but are also crammed together by the environment on Bass Rock. They joust, they bow to indicate land ownership, they ‘sky point’ to tell their partner that they’re leaving, they ‘beak fence’ as a form of greeting. This display lasts longer the greater the length of time they’ve been away. Birds from Bass Rock are recorded as flying as far as Norway and back for single fishing trips.” Gannets are resident on Bass Rock from January to October. Liz Drake looks out to Bass Rock from North Berwick’s Scottish Seabird Centre.
Castle on the cliff
Just over half a mile (1km) south of the Bass Rock, the ruined 14th century Tantallon Castle is an impressive sight. Its high walls and battlements today create a ragged silhouette against the sky. From the tops of its walls are spectacular views across the crashing seas. Built in the latter half of the 1300s, it was the home of the Red Douglases for more than 300 years. It withstood several sieges in the course of its history, until a 12-day assault in 1651 by the forces of Oliver Cromwell during the Civil War rendered it uninhabitable. Tantallon was left to the elements. Despite its abandonment, however, the extensive ruins left today still reach almost the castle’s original height. Spiral staircases along the central stretch of the inner walls take visitors to 78ft (24m) above the ground. “It’s the size and the impact of the place that’s so impressive” says Alastair Hunt, who manages the site for Historic Scotland. “Visitors love the fact you can get to the top of the battlements.” The remoteness of the site makes it a haven for wildlife. “I see deer and pheasants, hares and stoats in the fields around the castle. We occasionally have dolphins heading up the coast too. It’s a constant delight,” he says. The castle grounds are entered by the main gate, once secured by a broad double door. A doocot stands just inside the perimeter, directly opposite the entrance to the castle. Here thousands of nesting pigeons were exploited for their eggs, as well as the prized flesh of four-week-old chicks known as squabs or peesers. Crossing the now dry moat and stepping inside the castle’s main walls, the atmosphere is dominated by tall, top-lit ruins of towers and stairwells. There is a constant background noise from the surging tides and breakers below the cliffs.
Climbing to the high battlements reveals the celebrated views of the Bass Rock sitting amongst the blue shades of a sunlit sea. A natural harbour sits to the side of the castle, where both visitors and provisions would have arrived. Two of the most impressive sections of the remaining ruins are the Great Hall, and the kitchens. In the latter, there is space for two large fireplaces where great spits would have roasted meat, fish and fowl. Chain-suspended cauldrons would have bubbled above the fires. The walls in the Great Hall would have been plastered and painted. Curtain rugs hung over entranceways, creating a far warmer and more welcoming place than its windswept location and bare condition would suggest today.
Place of pilgrimage
Three miles to the west, the town of North Berwick has a more peaceful history. Its inhabitants have made a living both from agriculture and the sea over the centuries. Today, with 6,600 residents, its most recent incarnation is as a seaside resort. The harbour has long been the heart of the town, tracing its origins back to the 12th century. For 500 years, it provided a ferry system across the Forth to Anstruther in Fife. In 1160, a cathedral was built at St Andrew’s in Fife, which soon became the most popular site of pilgrimage in Scotland. Travellers from further south would pass through North Berwick en route. They were seeking blessing and healing from relics associated with the martyred apostle St Andrew. At the northern limits of the town lies a slender spit of land which extends into the Firth, forming the town’s main bay to its west. On this land sit the ruins of St Andrew’s Old Kirk, framed by colourful cottages. In the 12th century the kirk was a simple white-washed building. It was built by monks from Lindisfarne on the Northumberland coast, and was a beacon for early pilgrims on their way north to St Andrew’s Cathedral. A side chapel and
“Tantallon vast, broad, massive, high and stretching far…” Sir Walter Scott, ‘Marmion’
tower were added to the rectangular stone building by the 15th century. The structure collapsed into the sea in the 17th century leaving the knee-high ruins seen today. It is believed that 10,000 pilgrims a year were ferried across the Forth during the Middle Ages. A hospice, no longer in existence, was founded in the town to look after the sick. Accommodation and market stalls boomed. Tin badges, decorated with the cross of St Andrew, were sold and sewn onto clothing by those believing that the journey would absolve them of their sins and heal their afflictions. In the late 20th century 2,000 bodies were excavated here. It is believed these were the remains of people whose illnesses claimed them before they completed their pilgrimage. Their bodies were wrapped in linen shrouds held together with bronze pins. “Pilgrims who travelled north to St Andrew’s from early Christian centres such as Northumberland would pass by this land via the most logical way, the sea route,” says David Berry, who gives tours about the town’s history. “I start here because the church that stood on this spot was the origins of North Berwick. “This area was originally a tidal island. A harbour was developed, which was the start of the route to prosperity. Then the reformation came in the 1500s. Protestants are not ones to take pilgrimages, so the demand for the ferry died out. By the 1600s the locals mined some of the rocks in the harbour, which undercut the island and led to half of the church being washed away, which is why it’s a ruin.” North Berwick’s fortunes rose and fell through the centuries. The agricultural revolution boosted farming exports and the harbour was rebuilt to a grander size in 1812. “The big heavy, red building here on the harbour was originally a store and granary,” says David. “It has withstood the weather and the vagaries of life well.” The arrival of the railway in 1850 helped boost the region’s fishing trade. “People like my great grandfather moved to North Berwick from Fife,” explains David. “They made up roughly three dozen fishing families, who became a very tight-knit community.”
Visitor destination
The arrival of the railway also brought visitors attracted by the seaside. The town’s popularity with Edinburgh industrialists gained it a reference in the 1880s as ‘the Biarritz of the North’ by the editor of society journal The World. “The west end of the town still boasts all kinds of stunning stone mansions,” says David. Today the town remains popular with visitors. “There’s nowhere like it,” he says. “I’ve lived in six different countries, been around the world and spent 15 years in Silicon Valley. The world’s very nice, but I’ve come back to North Berwick. Most settlements have a single reason for being and if that reason fails they die. North Berwick has had about six different reasons to be there and has reinvented itself every time. We’re only halfway through so far.” “It’s almost the ideal sized town,” says
Amanda Knani, who runs a bed and breakfast at her home. She has lived in the town since she moved there at the age of nine from the north-east of England. “It offers enough variety and it has something for everybody. There are tennis, golf, rugby, sailing and rowing clubs, a monthly cinema society, and of course the Church. “I never tire of the beach. I take a lot of photos, to try to capture how beautiful it is. I love it as much in winter as I do on a beautiful sunny day.”
Birdlife and nature
Alleyways lead north from the centre of the town to the sweeping beach, and the harbour. Although much reduced, there is still a fishing presence in the harbour among the private pleasure boats moored in the marina. The Scottish Seabird Centre, which celebrates the rich seabird life of the area, is based here. The Centre holds daily talks, presentations and exhibits about the local wildlife. This includes Arctic terns, grey seals and barbed-beaked puffins. On top of all this are Bass Rock’s gannets. “We have placed cameras on the various islands out to sea, which allow visitors to watch the birds and seals,” says Liz Drake. “The cameras are assaulted by salt spray and wind, as well as the birds sitting on them, so they’ve got to be hefty.”
Views from on high
Another ancient volcanic plug, a twin to Bass Rock, rises inland on the southern outskirts of the town. It takes its name, North Berwick Law, from a lowland Scots word meaning a conical hill. A trail, just over half a mile (1km) long, wends its way up the western side of the hill to its 613ft (187m) summit. From here the views north to the sea over North Berwick, and south-west to Edinburgh and the Pentland Hills beyond are as extensive as they are arresting. On the cap are the remnants of an Iron Age hill fort and military shelters dating back to both the Napoleonic era and the Second World War. A whale bone arch has stood on the peak’s highest point since 1709, supposedly as a landmark to guide sailors home safely. It is believed to have been replaced in 1789, the 1850s and 1935,
worn away by the weathering effects of its exposed position. The most recent replacement was in 2008 when a 21ft (6.4m) long fibreglass replica weighing 1,235lb (560kg) was carried by helicopter to the summit.
A beautiful folly
Five miles west from the town sits another great manmade landmark, Dirleton Castle. Although this impressive building suffered a similar degree of conflict in its history as Tantallon, the atmosphere is markedly different. “Its pretty setting is because it was in fact kept as a folly for a wealthy family, the Nisbets, until it was handed over to state care in 1923,” explains Kevin Heffernan, its keeper. Built in the 13th century by the De Vaux family, it has changed hands three times. In the 14th century it went to the Haliburtons, then to the 16th century Ruthvens. Later in 1650, after the Civil War, it was cared for by the Nisbet family who lived nearby. The castle was damaged extensively during the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 13th and 14th centuries. Further damage was inflicted during a siege by the forces of Oliver Cromwell in 1650. Little evidence of this is visible today. The keep and walls of the structure were repaired by each owner, leaving visitors able to explore bed chambers, storage cellars, halls and ramparts. “Tantallon is a fort, stark, proud and defensive,” says Kevin. “Dirleton, however, has traditionally had a strong relationship between the castle and the gardens, which gives the place a homely feel. “The yew trees all over the site are the offspring of the original plantings, some of them hundreds of years old. People come to visit the gardens, and enjoy the borders.” The beginnings of spring offer the sunflower-like doronicum, elegant-stemmed polyanthus, dog’s tooth violet, daffodils, magnolias and forsythia for visitors to enjoy. The previous three families designed and enlarged the castle with well maintained broad storage vaults and a family chapel. There was also a prison pit, a narrow, lightless basement accessed by a small opening in the castle’s lower reaches, still visible today. It was the Nisbets, however, who beautified the grounds. They designed it as an eye-catching feature, visible from their nearby mansion house.
Combining nature and history
Dirleton, together with Tantallon, stands testament to the area’s wild past. Today the sea continues to surge against the remains of Tantallon and the shores of North Berwick. The natural grandeur of Bass Rock and the Law maintains their dominance of the landscape as it has done for millennia. This corner of East Lothian endures as a land of fierce beauty, both natural and manmade.