CPRE Essex gives £500 towards Bocking Windmill painting and cleaning

CPRE Essex has donated £500 towards the maintenance of Bocking Windmill.
The money, from the countryside charity’s Mill Fund, has been given to the Friends of Bocking Windmill to help cover the cost of painting and cleaning.
The striking postmill with its two-storey roundhouse, owned by Braintree District Council and run by the Friends, has been in Church Street, Bocking, since 1721, having been moved 200 yards up the hill to its present site in 1829.
The five-floor mill is a listed ancient monument and was worked until 1929, when it was presented to Bocking Parish Council. It subsided into disrepair until 1962, when a restoration programme began; this was funded partly by public subscription and partly by Braintree and Bocking Urban District Council.
The Friends of Bocking Windmill group was formed at that time and it still hosts open days and group visits, although of course such activities have been curtailed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Although not a working mill, much of the original machinery is still in place, while it hosts artefacts used in the milling process. Computer presentations include a photographic tour, which is appreciated particularly by those visitors unable to climb the four sets of steps.