The 187 year old Berkswell windmill is a grade 2 star listed building and is a scheduled monument. It is a tower with 4 blades, constructed in 1826 and is on the site of a former post mill and is situated in balsall common and is in private ownership. It is the only one in the West Midlands with it's original wooden machinary still in place. The post mill is the earliest type of European mill. The main feature of the mill is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single vertical post which can be turned into the wind. The earliest post mills in england are thought to be built in the 12th century, one is still used today and is situated in outwood in surrey and that was built in 1665.
This windmill is built in brick and has a wooden shaped cap which can be turned into the wind by a continuse chain winding mechanism and was used to grind flour and animal feeds. In 1927 the milling wheels where adapted to run via a diesel engine and was not reliant on the winds any longer and was last worked by wind in 1933, and used auxiliary power untill 1948. the windmill was finally closed in the same year when the last miller john hammond died.
Berkswell windmill was restored between 1973 and 1975 by the millwright derek ogden for it's the owners George and betty field. It was all complete with sails, machinery and tools for making the flour and animal feed but sadly fell in to disrepair when the owners died. It was bought again by the current owner in 2006 who then restored to what it is today with work to the wall, tower, cap and new sails. What you see today is the result of 5 long year's of hard work by the English Heritage.
IMPORTANT! This building is privately owned, and as such you should respect the owners' wishes of privacy. The cache is NOT placed on the same side of the road as the windmill; there is no need to enter the premises. Photography of the windmill is permitted but only from the road. PLEASE DO NOT approach the gate.
If you are interested in visiting the windmill and having a look around, it is open once a month during the summer. For 2013, this is on the first Saturday of the month between 12pm and 4pm up to October. Group visits at other times by appointment only. For more information, a quick search on Google should give you what you need; there is a Facebook page for the windmill too.