Hessle Whiting Windmill - Hessle, UK - Windmills on Waymarking.com

The windmill is close to the Humber Suspension bridge in what is now the Humber Bridge Country Park. A nearby information board has the following information.

This is the tower of Hessle whiting mill, an industrial windmill built c. 1810. The mill was designed to crush chalk from the nearby quarry, which now forms the Humber Bridge Country Park.

The crushed chalk was used to make a product called whiting, this took place inside the whiting works which once adjoined the tower. A purified powdered form of chalk, whiting was an essential product during the Industrial Revolution (c. 1760 - c.1840). It was mainly used as a filler in paint, or mixed with linseed oil to make putty. During the 20th century it was used to manufacture toothpaste, rubber and plastics.

A State of the Art Machine

The mill originally had five 'roller-reefing' sails. These were made up of lengths of canvas attached to a roller, a bit like a venetian blind. The amount of canvas on the sails could be adjusted via a looped chain which hung down to the balcony-like stage. The stage was accessed from the white doors on the third floor.

A Place of Industry

Unprocessed chalk from the quarry was also shipped from wharves and jetties along the Foreshore. You can still see the wooden piles from these structures at low tide. Chalk was also burned in kilns to make lime. Nearby there was a steam-powered whiting mill, this stood roughly on the site of the Country Park Inn.

The Whiting Works

The mill's labour force was small, with just six men and a foreman. Chalk whiting was made using a three stage process involving crushing, setting and drying. It was then bagged or casked for shipment.

There is a free car park in the country park and free admission to the windmill on Tuesdays and Fridays 10am - 4pm (closed 12-1pm), but space is limited.

The nearby Humber Bridge was built in 1981 and for 16 years was the longest single span suspension bridge in the world and forms an impressive backdrop to the windmill.

Date of Manufacture: 01/01/1810 Purpose: Other Open to the public: yes Is This Windmill Functional?: No Windmill Farm: no Museum on Site: yes Cost: Not Listed

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