Windmills of your mind Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Public footpath crossing the field with a view of the oldest post
mill in the country
Cache in a tree in the corner of the field with the windmill behind
you.
Pitstone Windmill stands in the north east corner of a large field
near the parish boundary of Ivinghoe and Pitstone in
Buckinghamshire. It is thought to have been first built circa 1627
as this date is carved on part of the framework. This is the
earliest date to be found on any windmill in the British Isles. It
should be remembered that such a structure would have had to have
frequent repairs made to it, so it is quite possible the mill
predates 1627.
The design of the mill is what is known as a post-mill. This means
the whole superstructure of the mill rests on one main post. This
post arises from ground level through brick and a foundation
chamber; the post then acts as a pivot for the timber built
structure above with the sails. Consequently, the upper section of
the mill and sails could be turned towards the direction of the
wind (reinforcements added in the 20th century now prevent the
upper section from turning). The mill machinery in the upper
rotating section was reached by a long flight of external
steps.
For many hundreds of years grain grown in the two adjoining
villages was ground at the mill into flour. In 1874 the mill was
bought by Adelbert Wellington Brownlow Cust, 3rd Earl Brownlow who
owned the nearby Ashridge Estate. He subsequently let it to a local
farmer, who ran a successful milling business from the mill.
In 1902 the mill was seriously damaged during an enormous gale,
damaging it beyond the price of economic repair. Around 1922 the
derelict ruined mill was bought from the Ashridge Estate by a
farmer whose land was close to the mill. In 1937 he donated it to
the National Trust. However, it was not until 1963 that a band of
volunteers began to carry out renovations at their own expense. The
mill appeared in an episode of The Champions titled The Invisible
Man which was filmed in 1967.[1] In 1970, after an interlude of 68
years, the mill once again ground corn.
Today the windmill is open to the public on Summer Sunday
afternoons.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
1fg gerr gb gur yrsg bs gur gryrtencu cbyy, jvgu gur jvaqzvyy oruvaq lbh, gho, 2 srrg hc ebhaq gur onpx bs gur gerr