Skidby Mill: East Yorkshire's 'last workable windmill' to turn again after replacement sails approved

East Riding Council’s western area planning sub-committee approved plans to install the four sails at Skidby Mill which is the last left functioning in the area.

Geraldine Mathieson, who worked at the mill and spoke in favour of the plans, said the best way to preserve it was to get it working again.

Three objections were lodged claiming the sails were not historically accurate and committee member Coun David Nolan said more needed to be done to protect the Grade II-listed building.

The approval of the plans comes after the mill’s sails were taken down in 2019 after standing still for about a decade.

Wet rot was found in the two oldest sails so they had to be replaced, with millwright Steve Boulton deeming them too unsafe to be put back, but the millwright stopped making sails during the coronavirus pandemic.

A new one was found in Suffolk but details about the original sails were not available so the newer ones, the latest made in 2005, were used as templates. This means there are subtle differences between the four sails but plans stated these would not be visible from ground level.

Shades are not set to be fitted to the new sails and no milling will be done because the sails would turn two quickly, putting stress on the whole mechanism.

They will instead turn at a slow speed so they can shed water and last longer. The council-owned Grade II-listed mill was first built in 1821 and raised in the late 1870s. The site is one of the East Riding’s leading local tourist attractions and it features a cafe, courtyard and museum.

Mrs Mathieson said while the replacement sails were not ideal, the lack of detailed historical drawings to go off meant there was no alternative but to fit the new ones. She added the council should try to get those details so that more accurate sails could be made when the current ones reach the end of their lifespan.

She said: “We’re down to the last workable wind mill out of about 200 in East Yorkshire. The best way to preserve a mill is to use it, the benefits outweigh the design.”

Dale ward’s Coun Richard Meredith and Coun Terry Gill both said the sails needed to go up to protect a truly important local asset.

Coun Nolan said councillors should respect the mill’s heritage.

The committee member said: “We should be making an effort to keep it as it should be and not just get the sails up. Saying we’ll put these up and then make some notes for later seems a bit weak.”