Cley towermill was built c.1819, possibly by William Farthing. The 5 storey mill had a horizontally boarded, octagonal dome shaped cap with a petticoat that was topped with a ball finial. The cap held a gallery and an 8 bladed left handed fan. There were 4 double shuttered sails, the inner pair having 8 bays of 3 shutters and the outer pair having 9 bays of 2 shutters and 1 bay of 3 shutters. A stage was set around the 2nd floor that had two opposite doors. When the mill was built c.1819, the sails were powering 2 pairs of French burr stones, a flour mill and jumper but by 1876 this had been increased to 3 pairs of stones and a smut machine had been added.

The property has two physical dates built in:

1. On the outside of one of the flint buildings, pieces of red tile have been laid into a cement backing above one of the windows and form the number 1713.

2. The entrance hall that was added to the south of the tower when the mill was converted, has a piece of old timber built into the wall about three feet above the ground that has the date 1713 carved into it.

Neither date has any bearing on the date the mill was built and both have only been in situ since around the time the mill was converted to residential use in 1921. Colonel Blount was of the opinion that his grandmother had the dates inscribed as a representation of the earliest date shown on the deeds for the property.

The terrace of cottages in front of the mill in the above photograph were converted from old warehouses between 1906 and 1910 and were named Beau Rivage. Nos. 1, 2 and 3 are shown in the photo.

Between 1825 and 1845, after a sea wall with a road and a sluice had been built across the valley, the depth of Cley Channel halved. The channel also narrowed to the point where ships could no longer turn round, all as predicted by Thomas Telford.
Cley sea trade then naturally began to dwindle, although the mill still managed to export 10,000 sacks in 1840.
The last Britsh vessel to berth at Cley Mill Quay arrived in 1876. Thereafter the value of houses in Cley dropped by a third.

Tithe Award 1841
Map 1841
Owner: John Farthing
Occupier: John Lee

During the first half of the nineteenth century the mill was owned by John Farthing and let to John Lee, a merchant. John Lee, a prominent person, not only rented the mill from Mr. Farthing but also a granary, coal house, stable & cart shed, while from George Legge he rented two malthouses, a coal house and a house.
Windmills of England - R. J. Brown - 1976

George Legge owned Mill Hill where the old postmill had been sited.

Situations Vacant
TO MILLERS
Wanted, a respectable honest man to WORK a WINDMILL. One who is willing to make himself generally useful.
Apply to S. B. Burroughes, Miller, Cley next the Sea, Dereham.
Norfolk News - 25th September 1875

When William Farthing died, his widow Dorothy carried on the business and the mill was put up for sale in 1876 when she died. At that time the mill was copyhold of the Manor of Cley and was in the occupation of Stephen Barnabas Burroughs.

In 1892 Stephen Barnabas Burroughs also had a baking business in Langham and a coal & corn merchant business in Holt. In 1912, Kelly's directory only lists the Burroughs Brothers as bakers in Cley and Stephen Barnabas Burroughs as agent to Lt. Col. T. F. A. Watson Kennedy J.P. & farmer. However, Sydney Stephen Burroughes was also running a large business from Holt towermill.

When Sarah Maria Wilson bought the mill in 1921 she converted it to a holiday home. The machinery was removed and the sails and cap were fixed. The granary and outhouses were converted into stables and a boathouse.
The brake wheel and crown wheel were cut in half and used as door arches.
Three pairs of right handed 4ft French burr stones were built into the terrace to the north of the mill and another was set in the ground near the gate to the northwest of the property.
A pair of left handed 3ft. Niedermendig, Blue, or Cologne (Cullen or Cullin) stones were also set into the terrace and a nother similar stone was set as a doorstep to a flint outbuilding on the east side of the mill. These stones would have been brought in from the Rhineland in the 1700s. In November 1976, Harry Apling commented that the stones could very well have come from some earlier nearby Post Mill having anticlockwise sails, but driving the stones off head & tail wheels direct, without a great spur wheel.

Many parts of the mill machinery can be turned to account in fitting up the interior as a dwelling. At Cley Mill, Norfolk, the arches of the doors are made from the brake-wheels & crown-wheels cut in half. These arches look very effective, with their quaint mortice teeth, which have a similarity to the dog-tooth carving in ancient buildings.
Old Watermills & Windmills - R. R. Hopkins - 1930

During the second world war Col. Hubert Blount's aunt, Sister Rachael, lived at the mill and along with fellow nun Sister Catherine, worked within the local community. The Duchess of Bedford often visited the nuns at the mill until she was lost at sea whilst flying her own aircraft.

During the first half of the nineteenth century the mill (towermill) was owned by John Farthing and let to John Lee, a merchant. John Lee, a prominent person, not only rented the mill from Mr. Farthing but also a granary, coal house, stable & cart shed, while from George Legge he rented two malthouses, a coal house and a house.
Windmills of England - R. J. Brown - 1976

... at some time during the war or possibly in the 1953 floods, my greandmother's records, which she kept in the mill, were lost. She (Mrs. Sarah Maria Wilson) bought Cley Mill in 1921 from Burroughes Flour Mills for £350 & converted it into a dwelling house as a holiday home for our family. The late Mr. Cecil Upcher was architect. It came to me at my grandmother's death in 1934.
Lt. Colonel Hubert Blount, Hammer Hill, Cley - 23rd November 1976

At the time of the great sea flood of 1953, Colonel Blount found the mill standing in 8 to 9 feet of water and the occupants marooned within. The front door had floated off and he dived in to come up at the top of the staircase on the first floor.

SAVILLS COUNTRY HOUSES
NEAR BLAKENEY Offers in excess of £100,000
One of the most famous landmarks on the North Norfolk coast with grounds of approximately
½ acre
8/10 Upper King Street, Norwich, Norfolk.
Eastern Daily Press - 29th May 1982
January 1983 - Mill had not sold and remained in the Blount family

New owner of Cley Mill:-
Charles Blount, Peach House, Gangbridge Lane, St. Mary Bourne, Andover, Hants.
Considering Sale.
Friends of Norfolk Windmills Newsletter - April 1981

CLEY MILL - a familiar North Norfolk landmark - is to be turned into a guesthouse.
Permission for change of use and listed building consent for alterations necessary, was given at a meeting on site yesterday by North Norfolk District Council development committee.
The application was by Mr. C. Blount and as well as turning the mill into a guesthouse he will be turning adjacent outbuildings into three self catering units.
... grade two listed building ...
The application was approved unanimously.
Eastern Daily Press - 22nd April 1983

Cley next the Sea
New fantail frame and fantail made by John Lawn erected by crane yesterday.
Eastern Daily Press - 6th August 1987

CLEY WINDMILL
Estimated cost of new sails, gallery & fantail £45,000.
Grants totalling £19,000 from English Heritage & County Council.
S.P.A.B. Mill News Newsletter - 28th July 1986

Colonel Charles & Jane Blount turned the mill into a guesthouse in 1983 and continued to run it until 2005 when it was taken over by their nephew John Woodhouse and his wife Val. In May 2006 they advertised the mill for sale. Charles Jane Blount's son James, after leaving the armed forces, became known as the singer and songwriter, James Blunt.

I have been investigating the death of John Hillier Blount who died in an air accident in World War 1 in Beverley East York. He is an ancestor of the Blounts who owned the Cley Windmill. This is part of a project to research the 17 airmen who are listed on a plaque in All Saints' Church, Bishop Burton who died in World War1 and were based at the Beverley Aerodrome. I've attached the information we've collected so far and would welcome any additional information.
Bryn Jones - 17th April 2009

Rick Wakeman gets married for the fourth time

ROCKER Rick Wakeman has got hitched for a fourth time - to a woman younger than his eldest son.
Yes keyboard star Rick, 62, tied the knot with Rachel Kaufman, 37, in a ceremony at a seaside windmill. A source said Rachel's parents Pat and David were the only guests at the low-key wedding.
A friend of the couple said: "Rachel actually said yes to Rick's proposal a few years ago. This will be a wonderful festive surprise for his fans."
Rick's agent - and Nookie Bear ventriloquist - Roger de Courcey yesterday confirmed the couple wed on December 14 at the windmill in Cley-next-the-Sea, Norfolk .
He said: "It was a very small wedding and reception, a private affair. Rick thoroughly enjoyed a pleasant day and he is very happy. He did say he wasn't going to marry again but Rachel is a lovely lady and she must have changed his mind."
Rick has four sons and a daughter by his previous three wives. His eldest, Oliver, is 39, two years older than Rachel.
The happy couple, who live in Norfolk, met in 2006 when freelance writer Rachel put the rock star through a medical to discover what his lifestyle had done to his body.
Rick, who has sold more than 50 million records during his 40-year career, had said: "I was worried about an ageing old rocker like me marrying a lovely young girl like Rachel.
"So I asked her parents' permission before I asked her for her hand in marriage. Thankfully, they said yes."
Louie Smith, Daily Mirror - 30th December 2011

Kelly's 1912: Burroughes Brothers, bakers
Kelly's 1912: Stephen Barnabas Burroughes, agent to Lieut.-Col. T.F.A. Watson Kennedy J.P. & farmer

c.1819: Mill built, possibly by William Farthing

June 1819: Mill advertised for sale

July 1820: Mill advertised for sale

Bryant's map 1826: Windmill

Pigot's 1830: John Lee, merchant & miller, Cley

White's 1836: John Lee, corn & coal merchant, miller & maltster

1840-1919: Steven Barnabas Burroughs and Burroughs family

1840: 10,000 sacks of flour exported from the mill by sea

Tithe Award 1841: Owner John Farthing; Occupier John Lee

White's 1845: John Lee, corn & coal merchant, miller & maltster

1846: John Lee, miller

1850: William Edward Powell, miller & merchant

1853: Lawrence Randall, miller

White's 1854: Lawrence Randall, corn miller, coal & cake merchant

1862: Lawrence Randall, miller

White's 1864: Lawrence Randall, miller & coal merchant

Register of Electors 1874: Lawrence Randall - House, mill & land as occupier. On the Quay

c.1875: Mrs. Dorothy Farthing (widow) died

1875: Stephen Barnabas Burroughs, miller

February 1876: Mill advertised for sale by auction in occupation of S. B. Burroughes, copyhold of the Manor

Kelly's 1879: Stephen Barnabas Burroughs, miller, baker & corn merchant

White's 1883: Stephen Barnabas Burroughs, miller & corn merchant & baker

Kelly's 1892: Stephen Barnabas Burroughs, miller (wind), baker & coal & corn merchant; & at Holt & Langham

Kelly's 1900: Burroughs Brothers, bakers, corn, flour, cake, pollard, coal & manure merchants & wind millers

Kelly's 1904: Burroughs Brothers, bakers, corn, flour, cake, pollard, coal & manure merchants & wind millers

O.S. map 1905: Windmill (Corn)

1908: Burroughs Brothers, millers

c.1910: Mill ceased working

1921: Mill bought by Sarah Maria Wilson from Burroughes Flour Mills for £350 and converted to holiday home.

c.1921: Machinery removed; cap and sails fixed

1934: Mill inherited by Col. Hubert Blount (grandson of Sarah Wilson)

1937: Mill externally complete with shutterless sails and used as a summer residence

20th February 1952: Mill designated with a Grade ll listing

31st January 1953: Mill under 8 to 9 feet of water during the great sea flood

1st February 1976: Lt. Col. Hubert Blount died

1960: Sails replaced

1979: Colonel Charles and Jane Blount took over the mill

May 1982: Mill advertised for sale

21st April 1983: Planning consent granted to turn the mill and complex into a guesthouse & self catering units

EDP 8th January 1987: John Lawn & John Bond take down fan assembly for renovation

5th August 1987: New fantail and frame installed by John Lawn, millwright

1987: Miss Caroline Hederman, property manageress

2004: Mill used for self catering and B&B accommodation

2005: Colonel Charles & Jane Blount retired leaving the mill to be run by nephew John Woodhouse & wife Val

2006: Charlotte Martin property manageress

May 2006: Mill advertised for sale by Strutt & Parker for c.£1,500,000

December 2006: Mill sold to Julian & Carolyn Godlee of Hertfordshire

2007: Mill still to offer self catering & B&B accommodation with the restaurant being opened to non residents

14th December 2011: Rock star Rick Wakeman, married for the 4th time at the mill

Copyright © Jonathan Neville 2004