A working windmill has stood above Holgate since 1770. From its early days in open countryside to its place at the heart of a growing York suburb, Holgate Windmill has lived many lives.
History of the Mill
Holgate Windmill has stood above York for more than 250 years. Today it is surrounded by houses and traffic, but when it was first built it looked out over open countryside, with clear views across the hamlet of Holgate and towards the city.
The mill was built by George Waud, who was born in Barlow near Selby in 1717. He bought the land on 27 December 1768 and, by October 1770, the mill was working. George lived nearby in the mill house with his family, and the new windmill soon became part of everyday life in the area.
At the time, Holgate was still a small settlement centred around the junction of Acomb Road and Poppleton Road, near The Fox Inn. These roads gave local farmers a direct route to the mill, bringing grain to be ground into flour. Much of the flour produced at Holgate would then have been taken into York.
The original horse and cart track to the mill can still be traced today. It survives in narrowed form as a snicket from Acomb Road: a small but powerful reminder that the mill was once part of a working rural landscape.
The Waud family
George Waud was the first miller at Holgate Windmill, and the mill remained in his family for several generations. George, then his son and grandson, ran the mill until 1851.
During this early period, Holgate Windmill was one of several mills serving York and the surrounding countryside. There had previously been windmills at Acomb and near what is now Wilton Rise, though both had disappeared by the time Holgate Windmill was built. Even so, York was still very much a city surrounded by mills.
For families, farms and businesses, flour was an everyday necessity. Mills like Holgate turned local grain into one of the basic ingredients of daily life.
Victorian change
In 1851, the mill was sold to John Musham, a local gentleman. It was then run by a tenant miller, John Thackwray from Boston Spa. A few years later, in 1855, Musham sold the mill to Joseph Peart.
Peart was an important figure in the development of Holgate Windmill. He owned several mills in the area, developed property in St Paul’s Square, and lived at Mount Terrace House. Under his ownership, Holgate Windmill was significantly refurbished.
In the late 1850s, the mill was raised to the height we see today. This major upgrade added extra working space and allowed new machinery to be installed. A steam engine was probably added at this time, along with the cast iron machinery that remains part of the mill’s story.
This was a period of change for milling more widely. New technology was reshaping the trade, from improved sails and gearing to the spread of larger roller mills. Holgate Windmill adapted, but like many smaller mills, it would eventually face increasing competition from larger, more industrial methods of flour production.
Later millers
After Joseph Peart’s death, the ownership of the mill becomes less clear, though it is believed that the Gutch family owned it from at least 1877.
Joseph Chapman continued to work at the mill after Peart’s death. His children were the first and only children known to have been born at the mill during its history. When Joseph later retired to Scarborough, his son Charles took over. Sadly, Charles died young in 1901 as a result of breathing in flour dust, a reminder that milling was skilled work but not gentle work.
Herbert Warters ran the mill from 1901 to 1922 and was followed by Thomas Mollett. These were the final decades of Holgate Windmill’s commercial working life.
The end of commercial milling
Holgate Windmill continued grinding corn by wind power into the early 1930s. In January 1930, the sails were badly damaged in a storm. After this, the mill struggled on using electric motors, but production stopped entirely around 1933.
By then, the milling industry had changed dramatically. Smaller wind and water mills were being overtaken by larger roller mills, including major mills at ports where imported grain could be processed on a much bigger scale.
Holgate Windmill was the last working mill in York to close.
In 1939, the Gutch family sold the mill to York Corporation. Some restoration work was attempted over the following years, but as the surrounding housing estate grew, the mill became increasingly neglected.
A landmark worth saving
Although Holgate Windmill had stopped working, it had not disappeared from local memory. Its distinctive tower remained a landmark, and its history was kept alive by people who understood its importance.
One of those people was David Lodge, a champion of Holgate, who documented the mill’s history and worked to raise awareness of its value. His drive and determination helped keep the story of the mill alive at a time when its future was uncertain.
In 2001, the Holgate Windmill Preservation Society was formed. Thanks to the dedication of volunteers, the mill was eventually restored to working order.
Today, Holgate Windmill is once again a working windmill — not simply a monument to the past, but a living part of York’s heritage.
