The first windmill was built on this site in 1766-67, and some of its wooden machinery was incorporated in the present mill which was built 1813-14 at a cost of about £800. A Mrs. Phoebe Langtry was responsible for its construction, and her son William was miller for many years.
The Windmill formed a part of the 'golden years' of English agricultural prosperity in the mid 19th century, processing wheat from the surrounding area into flour for local bakers, ships biscuits and household use, and making animal feed from locally grown barley and oats. It last worked in the late 1880s.
Like many other windmills, it was made redundant by major changes in flour milling technology. This coincided with a prolonged depression in agriculture which began in the late 1870s, and Bursledon Windmill was an early casualty of the period; major repairs were needed, but it was no longer worthwhile to undertake them.
The last miller was a George Gosling, who bought the Windmill in 1872 and set up as a threshing contractor. His decision to replace the cap with a flat roof preserved the internal machinery long after the stocks and sails had been removed. In 1931, the runner stones were removed. The mill was derelict by 1978.
The top two floors being in very poor condition by then. Some essential repairs were carried out in that year by the County Council. The sails were replaced in 1990 and the mill opened to the public in May 1991
Bursledon windmill is open to the public from 10:00 to 16:00 on Saturdays and Sundays From March to November. The information for the cache can be obtained outside of these hours but please refrain from visiting after dark.
Make your way to the above co-ordinates and answer the following questions from the information board you will find near there.
When was the barn move from Four Lanes Farm?
Answer = ABCD
What century does the granary date back to?
Answer = EFth
In what year was the windmill built?
Answer = GHJK
The cache can be found at
N50° (B-K)(D-E).(H-J)A(D+G) W 001° AC.B(K-G)(F-D-A)