Windmills in Kent #16 - Drapers Mill
The published co-ordinates lead you to Draper’s Mill where you will be able to collect the information required to locate the final cache. The cache container is a key-safe box which can be found a short walk away. This area can be very busy during school hours.
Draper’s Mill is a four storey smock windmill that was built in a completely rural setting, which is now part of Margate. It is a Grade II listed property with tarred weatherboarding on an octagonal brick base.
Draper's mill was built by John Holman, the Canterbury millwright, replacing an earlier mill that had previously been moved here from Nayland Point. It is the sole survivor of a group of three windmills, Draper's Mill, Little Draper's Mill and The Pumper.
The mill worked by wind until 1916 and by a 20 horsepower (15 kW) gas engine until the late 1930s. The original sails and fantail were removed in 1927.
The mill was threatened with demolition in 1965, but the Draper's Windmill Trust was formed by Mr R M Towes the then Head Master of Drapers Mills School (opposite Drapers Windmill) to preserve the mill. The mill was in a dilapidated condition when Kent County Council acquired it and a programme of restoration was carried out at a cost of over £2,000. The fantail was replaced in 1970, and one pair of sails were erected in December 1971. The new stage that had been prepared for fitting on Black Mill, Barham was donated to Draper's mill, when Black Mill was destroyed by fire. The second pair of sails were fitted in the autumn of 1974.
The mill is now fully functional and is open to the public during some weekends throughout the year (see board outside the mill for details). It is looked after by the Drapers Windmill Trust.
The Cache
To be found at N51 22 . A B C E001 23 . D E F
1. When was the windmill acquired by KCC? 196A
2. When was the original windmill built? 184B
3. How many long black hinges are there on the front door to the mill? C
4. The windmill is protected by a Standfast Alarm.
Last digit of the phone number = D
5. When was the Windmill restored? 19E5 - 1975
6. In what year did Mr Towes cease to be the headmaster of Drapers Mills Primary School? 197F
If anybody would like to expand this series, Email "Eastry Cache Bandits" so that they can inform you of the next number in the series to avoid duplication.