‘Quatered’ the Mill by turning
the sails edgewise to the wind
and by chocking the stones
with grain till they slowed down
the whole Mill or by riding the
storm out by giving the stones as
much work as they could cope
with. The ‘Brake Wheel’ is 10ft.
diameter and has 80 cast iron
square cog on its face. The
wheel itself is of the ‘Clasp Arm’
design so called because two
pairs of cross arms clasp the
windshaft in the square thus
formed by the arms on the
square section of the shaft.
because it is surrounded by a
brake-band for most of its
circumference. This is a strap
made up of pieces of Elm with
iron links, it is anchored at one
end and the other end is
attached to the brake lever or
‘Fang Shaft’ which is then
arranged so that in its natural
position held down by gravity
the brake is ‘ON’ and has to be
pulled ‘OFF’ through a pulley
and rope system. It is held off
when a pin in the brake lever
emgages with a hook which
swings freely on a pivot
attached to one of the rafters.
The brake was controlled from
the third storey gallery by the
miller. If the Mill ran away in a
storm it could not be stopped
by the brake for fear of causing
fire by friction.
beech which season together
splendidly and hooped with an
iron band.