History
Timber windmills existed in Upper Gornal up until a windmill built of local stone dating back to the 17th Century stood at Ruiton, then known as Rewardine. There were potentially five Mills in the area although it’s not known whether the building known as the Round House was ever actually a windmill.The original location was at Mill Street (Now Windmill Street) close to where the Old Mill Inn now stands.The windmill was owned by Peter Persehouse who sold it to Thomas Maulin of Upper Gornal, then known as Overgornal, in 1702. The mill was leased to local millers.In 1759, Job Maulin sold the windmill to William Woodward of Bloxwich and John Lees of Walsall who later sold it on to Samuel Fereday of Upper Gornal. Samuel transferred ownership to his farmer son (also named Samuel) in 1790. Presumably the same Samuel Feredey that owned Ellowes Hall.He sold it to Thomas Turner and Benjamin Lloyd in 1795 who in turn passed it on to William Richmond in 1805
New Windmill
The new sandstone windmill built in 1830 from local quarry stone was built for flour production by George Richmond, a local baker and member of the chapel. It was capable of grinding 120 bags of corn a week.The mill is a Tower Mill design where the cap is the only part of the mill which turns to face the wind. There were four large sails attached to the cap which drove a cast iron centre post turning the three large mill stones on the ground floor. The step at the main entrance is one of the original grindstones.Sadly the sails and cap are no longer in existence and the mill was capped with concrete.By 1844 the new mill was owned by Holyoak & Co. and became a mill to grind stone to produce sand