In the 1800's milling was a major industry and there were nearly a hundred
windmills in the north east. Fulwell windmill is one of the few remaining and
also working windmills left. Fulwell windmill was originally built in 1821 for
Matthew Robson Swan, a ship owner who lived nearby and owned a large part of the
surrounding land.
The working of the mill passed through a number of hands; Mr Fuller in 1834 and
in the 1840s the Dodd family. Ownership then passed to Mr Coulson before being
taken over in the 1880s by William Moody, a farmer who owned land adjacent to
the mill. The mill stayed with the Moody family until its closure in 1949. Up
until this time it had been working with a gas engine which was installed in
1905. When the Moody family retired in 1949, James Simpson who lived next door
at Ivy House carried on with some part time milling until 1957.
The ownership of the mill became the subject of dispute in the second half of
the Twentieth Century & passed into the hands of the Church Commissioners. Then,
in 1951, ownership passed to the Sunderland Corporation. The Sunderland
Corporation undertook some restoration work and in 1954-5 the cap and sails were
replaced, the fantail partly reconstructed, and the doors and windows within the
tower blocked.
The Grade II listed building, which dates from 1821, has stood idle for several
years, until the mill was leased to the Tyne and Wear Industrial Monuments Trust
in 1979. Major structural repairs were undertaken, including additional work
such as timber treatment, replacement of the sails, restoration of the cap and
fantail, and reinstatement of the staircases.
Although a significant amount of work was carried out on the mill, major repairs
and restoration work were still required. Also the land in front of the Mill was
in a derelict condition, the original Miller's cottage having been demolished in
the 1950s and the land left redundant. The Grade II listed building, which dates
from 1821, has stood idle for more than 50 years.
Fulwell Mill, reopened to the public on Friday 29th June 2000 after a
seven-month restoration, costing £800,000. Which has seen a visitor centre and
shop added to the 180 year old Newcastle Road landmark. It will also be a
working attraction capable of milling grain. Visitors will be able to see
demonstrations of the milling of flour, which will then be sold from the shop.
Falling revenue and increasing repair costs led to the once familiar presence of
windmills on our horizons disappearing. Fulwell mill has been part of
Sunderland's horizon for 200 years and has now been restored as a key to our
past.
