18 July
Welcome to Holgate Windmill—York’s last surviving windmill and the country’s oldest five‑sailed mill. Fully restored and milling traditional stone‑ground flour, we’re open year‑round for open days and special events. Step inside, watch milling in action (wind permitting), and take home a bag of our flour.
-
Visiting Holgate Windmill: times, tips, and what to look for
Holgate Windmill is open for visitors every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 10:00 to 12:30. Wednesdays and Fridays are listed as milling days. Entry: £5.00, and under 16s are free (plus membership options). Best time to arrive If you want the best chance of seeing the mill working, arrive early — milling depends on enough…
-
From wind to flour: what actually happens on a milling day
On a good day, the mill works with wind power. On a calmer day, milling may switch to electric power — because the goal is still to produce flour, even when Yorkshire doesn’t feel cooperative. Step-by-step: the journey of grain Here’s the (beautifully mechanical) route grain takes through the building: A whole building designed around…
-
Holgate Windmill: York’s last surviving windmill (and why it still matters)
Some heritage sites are quiet. Not this one. When Holgate Windmill is running, you don’t just see history — you feel it: the steady clack of gears, the hush of grain moving through chutes, the deep, reassuring rhythm of machinery doing what it was built to do. It’s a working windmill, not a museum piece,…
Holgate Windmill was built by its first miller, George Waud, after he bought the land in December 1768, and it was already working by October 1770—serving local farms and sending flour into York.
It stayed in the Waud family until 1851, then changed hands; in the late 1850s Joseph Peart refurbished it (likely adding steam power) and raised it to the height we see today.
The mill kept grinding into the early 1930s (first by wind, then with electric motors), was sold to York Corporation in 1939, fell into neglect, and was ultimately brought back to working life after the Holgate Windmill Preservation Society formed in 2001.
The Windmill Whirl-Off
Holgate Windmill has joined an international celebration of sail‑turning. Because keeping our sails moving keeps heritage alive. Teaming up with mills across the UK, the Netherlands and Germany in a friendly challenge to see whose sails make the most turns.
Cheer us on and watch our progress on the live league table at www.smartmolen.com/whirloff. Visit on our open days and, if the wind is up, you might catch the sails in motion and the stones at work.
Planning a visit? See the latest from Holgate Windmill at smartmolen.com/holgate before you head out.
John Craven uncovers Yorkshire’s rich heritage through traditional grains and age-old crafts, from the historic Holgate windmill, still grinding flour, to a solar-powered micro-distillery.
