Hogg Hill Mill

Post mill and recording studio in England

50°54′47″N 0°41′02″E / 50.913°N 0.684°E / 50.913; 0.684Year built1781InformationPurposeCorn millTypePost millRoundhouse storeysTwo storey roundhouseNo. of sailsFourType of sailsSpring sailsWindshaftCast ironWindingRoof mounted fantailFantail bladesEight bladesNo. of pairs of millstonesTwo pairs, arranged Head and TailOther informationThe only existing post mill in the United Kingdom retaining a roof mounted fantail.

Hogg Hill Mill is a post mill at Icklesham in East Sussex, England. It houses the private recording studio of Paul McCartney.^[1]

History

Hogg Hill Mill was built in Pett in 1781 and moved to Icklesham in 1790. It was working by wind until 1920, when it was stopped, owing to a weak weatherbeam.^[2] The mill was also used as a filming location for the 1951 British crime drama film The Quiet Woman, directed by John Gilling.^[3] Today, the mill houses the recording studios of Paul McCartney.^[1]

Description

Hogg Hill Mill is a post mill on a two-storey roundhouse. It has four spring sails carried on a cast iron windshaft and is winded by a roof-mounted fantail. It is one of only two surviving post mills in England with this feature, and the only one where this can still be seen.^[4] The mill drove two pairs of millstones, arranged head and tail. The brake wheel has been removed, but the wooden tail wheel is of clasp arm construction.^[2]

Millers

John Skinner 1781–1790 (Pett)
William Sargeant 1791
John Sargeant 1834–1855
Lewis Sargent 1855–1874 (Source: census returns)
Garndner Bros 1890–1920^[2]

Recording studio

The English musician Paul McCartney, bought the nearby Blossom Wood Farm in Peasmarsh in 1973 in hopes of raising his children away from the limelight. He bought Hog Hill Mill in Icklesham in 1981.^[5]

After the recording studio expenses of recording his albums Tug of War and Pipes of Peace, McCartney felt he could have built his own studio for the same amount.^[6] He converted the windmill on the property into a private recording studio, Hog Hill Mill, completed in 1985.^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b "17th August 2005 - Icklesham (Hogg Hill) Windmill". Roughwood. Retrieved 8 May 2008.
^ ^a ^b ^c Brunnarius, Martin (1979). The Windmills of Sussex. Chichester: Philimore. pp. 47–48, 189. ISBN 0-85033-345-8.
^ The Quiet Woman (1951) - IMDb, retrieved 27 October 2021
^ The other mill is at Ramsey, Essex, which has not carried its fantail since 1939.
^ Fox, Thomas (11 March 2023). "Sir Paul McCartney's Sussex 'windmill' studio where The Beatles worked on their final song". MSN.com. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
^ White, Timothy (February 1988). "McCartney Gets Hungry Again". Musician. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
^ "Completion of Hog Hill Mill home studio". The Paul McCartney Project. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2024.