This
tall, 5 sailed tower mill was built in 1819 by Norman and Smithson,
millwrights of Hull for the Reckitt brothers, Isaac and Thomas, later
to find fame with “Reckitts Blue”
.
The
mill is known as the Maud Foster Mill after the adjacent waterway and
houses 3 pairs of stones.
The
Reckitts were not very successful as millers and the mill was sold off
in 1835
Over
the following years various owners added extra machinery to the site
including an engine driven mill and a mill for the grinding of bones
to make fertiliser.
In
later years there were two mill houses on the site and an extensive
millwrights shop.
In
1914 the mill was bought by Alfred Ostler, who would run it until it
ceased work.
The
mill ceased work in 1948 due to mechanical problems and the milling
business was gradually wound down.
By
the 1960s the buildings surrounding the mill were in use as a poultry
factory.
From
the end of the 1970s the mill was neglected until the mid 1980s when
a housing firm wanted to demolish the outbuildings and convert the mill
into flats for wardens.
This
plan fortunately was rejected by Boston Borough Council.
In
1987 the mill was bought by the Waterfield family who had restored a
mill in Suffolk .
They
set about putting Maud Foster Mill into full working order, the work
including 3 new sails.
The
mill started working again in the Summer of 1988 and is now the most
productive windmill in the country.