THE WINDMILLS OF YARDLEY

There have been perhaps 4 windmills in Yardley.. The windmill did not appear in Britain until the late 12th C, and was probably much later in the Midlands. The first in Yardley was on Redhill, near the site of the Adelphi Cinema on Coventry Road, recorded in 1578, and shown as a tall postmill on Beighton's map of 1725. This may have been the mill referred to as belonging to the manor of Greet in 1664. By 1800 it was 'Old Mill', and presumably was then out of use. There was a windmill in Yardley belonging to the Gervises in 1689, which was probably that on Wake Green. It stood on a small knoll overlooking Old Pool on the Coldbath Road, was in use in 1773, but gone by 1847. The site, in the copse between two levels of the Moseley Grammar School playing fields, is identifiable. Its nearness to Ladymill may be explained by that mill's having converted from corn-grinding. On Yates's map of 1789 a postmill is shown on Yardley Wood Common, an untraceable site now in the local schools' playing field near Christ Church. but there is no documentary evidence for this. Since it is shown as a postmill, it is unlikely to be a confusion with the nearby brick tower mill just over Solihull boundary. There is a 'Windmill Piece' near Lea Hall, but no record of a mill.