Next Dimension: Herringfleet Mill

Another leg on this impromptu tour, and criminally we’re not actually in Norfolk for this one, but Suffolk – only just, mind! We’re but a whisker away from Somerleyton, on the marshes in the village of Herringfleet. While the patrolling pump is known as Walker’s Mill, I’ll be referring to it as Herringfleet Mill, as that’s all I’ve ever heard it called – even Wikipedia has taken my stance on this, so that’s me vindicated beyond doubt.

Built in the 1820s, Herringfleet is a rather charming little smock mill (a structure predominantly of timber, its frame ‘smocked’ by weatherboarding – indeed, Boardman’s Mill which we looked at previously is essentially a smock mill, only without the weatherboarding). As such, it is a rarity, but it’s also standout in that it’s the only mill left on that Broads reliant on not a fantail for winding, but the large tailpole attached to the backside of the cap.

Though retired in 1956, Herringfleet has been in good hands ever since – safe in the care of the Somerleyton estate, restoration work began almost immediately and to this day it is still regularly open to the public with its sails turning. (Have a care, though… the mill is very small, and they reach low!)

I think that’s every type of Broads mill covered now, so I’m not really sure of where to go next or to leave it there or anything at all really. I could pick out more with personal or aesthetic significance, or indeed I could branch away from East Anglia and look at others. If I do, I’ll certainly look into modifying the presentation – I am of course referring to the troublesome surrounding landscapes, which seem to be playing havoc on my ailing PC (as I mention every single time). Not wishing to burn a hole in the thing, I might limit them in future to a small patch around the mill model, or even create a decorative base and present them in more of an ornament or figurine mould. That could be fun, and hopefully will prove less turbulent!

In publishing a blog post showing the completed work, I just started looking for video reference material – I apparently so very like doing things in the most ridiculous order – and happened across this quite nice film. It should give some idea as to just how attractively remote the location is:

How that might have helped if I’d seen it before! So many details missed (and my cap is insultingly rounded – lazily lifted from Berney Arms and shrunk. I should probably have built a new one.) Perhaps I ought to invest in some snazzy tech and go droning on the Broads, rather than droning on here!

• 3d
• Art
• cinema 4d
• herringfleet
• model
• smock mill
• suffolk
• walker's mill
• windmill