Monument record 11011 - Northgate Windmill

Windmill erected near the Northgate by St Werburgh's Abbey. This was for the benefit only of the Abbey and its tenants in Northgate Street, all other inhabitants of Chester were bound to use the Dee Mills. After the Dissolution, this mill was worked by the Bravand family. The windmill was destroyed in July 1643, when 'to prevent the enemy making lodgement to the annoyance of the city, the great windmill without the North Gate was taken down' (1).

Although its exact location is not known, it was likely located on or near Windmill Lane (later Victoria Road).

Windmill or Besom Lane ( later Victoria Road), In the 13th century a path which gave access to the abbot of Chesters windmill (4)

<1> Bennett R & Elton J, 1898, History of Cornmilling, 4/59 (Book). SCH1417.

<2> Morris, Rupert H (Rev.), 1894, Chester in the Plantagenet & Tudor Reigns, /106 (Book). SCH946.

<3> Bott O J P, 1984, Cornmill sites in Cheshire 1066-1850 Part 4, p30 (Article in Journal). SCH6107.

<4> Lewis C.P & Thacker A.T. (eds), 2003, Victoria County History - A History of the County of Chester: Volume Vi, The City of Chester - General History and Topography, p.215 (Book). SCH6521.