Working windmill brings rural life to … Brixton
John Shepherd who led the development of the rural_urban definitions and who therefore did as much as anyone to help us understand how places in England differ from each other often says that “Rural” is as much in the mind as anywhere else.
I like this idea and the thought that Brixton has some “rural” in it makes me smile.
This article, found by Mrs A and the windmill it features has brought a rural wrinkle to South London – it explains how “urban development, steam power and the industrial revolution all contributed to their decline in Britain, but a community in south London was yesterday celebrating the reopening of a historic 19th century windmill, the last remaining of its kind in inner London.
“Now restored structurally after a fund-raising effort by local residents, Ashby’s Mill in Brixton is to grind wheat once more. Built in 1816, the windmill functioned for over a century. It became a Grade II* listed building in 1951, but limited restoration work was carried out and it became derelict in the 1970s.
“Friends of Windmill Garden, the group behind the project, worked in partnership with Lambeth Council, which gave £55,000, and also received a Heritage Lottery grant of £397,000.”