Cliff Windmill, Hessle, East Riding of Yorkshire
This tower windmill stands in Cliff Road. It would originally have had 5 sails. It was built in 1806 from brick that has been coated with tar which makes it look black. This is a common feature of windmills in this part of the world. It was part of a whiting works that was developed between 1810 and 1815. The windmill was used both to crush the chalk and power the works. From the mill, crushed chalk slurry was pumped through a series of settling tanks. It was then laid out in drying rooms. It was used in paints, ink and putty. The windmill operated until 1925 when the sails and head gear were removed. It continued to be used to crush chalk, initially powered by gas and then, in the 1930s, by an electric motor. It is thought work at the site stopped in the 1950s. All the works buildings, apart from the windmill, were demolished in the 1980s.
