It is the history of Whitby that makes it such an interesting place, and it may come as a surprise to some, that Whitby has had several windmills. When considering Whitby’s location along the windy North Sea coast, it is an obvious location to take advantage of the natural resource of wind.
The oldest documented record of windmills in England is found in a survey conducted by the Knights Templar dated 1185. The earliest surviving windmills today date back to the 17th century, mainly due to the fact that the windmills Windbreakers were designed to be removable and often damaged by the wind. Most traditional windmills have 5 sails, some 6 and some more. There are 2 main types of windmills, Post Mill and Tower Mill. The post mill rotates on a central pole and allows the entire mill to rotate in place (to face the wind). The tower mill only has the rotating upper section, a turret, the rest of the building is stationary.
There have been a few windmills in Whitby, although none survive today. The oldest record at Whitby is the Abbey dated 1316. The name given to this land was windmill flatt. The records also show two windmills around 1666 and 1674. Around 1778 a windmill (or two) were located at Stakesby. The windmill at Stakesby has had a few different owners, and therefore a few different names, Andersons Mill, Arundel Mill, and Fletchers Mill. This same mill appears in the Whitby Gazette on March 27, 1869 and is offered for rent. There was also a windmill at Newholme, west of Whitby.
The Stainsacre Mill near Whitby was a wind corn mill: a five-story tower mill, built of stone, with four sails and a fan tail. It was located on the hill to the south of the inn. [“Windmill Inn”]. It was built in 1816 by William Henderson, who became the first miller there. The Whitby business directories in 1834 and 1858 incorrectly listed William Henderson as a miller at Hawsker. William Henderson sold the mill to William Appleton, who also ran the Newholme mill. William died at Stainsacre in 1869. The mill was demolished in c1920.
Bagdale Mill, also known throughout its existence as Burnett’s Mill, Noble’s Mill, and Wren’s Mill, was demolished in 1862.
The best documented mill is Union Mill. Union Mill was on upgang road, a site now occupied by the controversial apartment development of the same name (Union Mill Apartments), the site previously occupied by the Harrisons Showroom Garage. The idea to build a mill came about in March 1800 when a group of concerned local entrepreneurs held a meeting at The White Horse and Griffin Inn. At the end of the 18th century, the yields of cereal crops varied considerably. In the last decade there were a series of bad harvests and since bread was a staple food, the poor were the first to suffer. The group formed the Union Mill Society, which was later incorporated into the Whitby Union Mill Industrial and Provident Society Ltd. Documents and minutes of the meetings are currently in the hands of the Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society. The mill provided grain at a reduced price to the local poor population and at cost to the union members / shareholders. Each member had their own ticket that was punched on each batch of grain received. The foundation stone for the Union Mill was laid by T. Fishburn and T. Broderick in June 1800. The mill suffered storm damage in October 1880 and again in July 1888, it was demolished or brought down to the ground floor level in 1923 There are a number of photographs taken by Frank Sutcliffe of Union Mill showing its location on the west cliff. When the mill was built, there were very few buildings on the west cliff, and the mill was a prominent place in its day, long before B & Bs were built. The trade union partnership lasted until July 11, 1888, when it was dissolved and the mill finally stopped working. For the last ten years of his life, the TA used the old mill for a stable and armory.