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Windmill stump at Down is a nineteenth-century industrial monument, now reduced to its substantial stone base. The structure stands on bedrock of Gala Group wacke, formed during the Telychian period of the Ordovician, which provided stable foundation and quarryable building stone for the local area. This hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock would have been familiar to the builders and inhabitants of Down, where such geology influences both the landscape character and available resources.
The stump preserves the lower section of what was once a complete windmill, a common feature of rural Northern Ireland during the industrial period. These structures harnessed wind power for milling grain and other processes essential to agricultural communities. The survival of substantial masonry at Down suggests it was a building of some permanence and investment, likely serving a farming population across several townlands.
The monument is protected as a scheduled historic monument under the Historic Environment Division reference 7178, recognising its significance as evidence of nineteenth-century rural technology and land use. Such survivals contribute to understanding how communities in County Down sustained themselves through wind-powered industry before the arrival of steam and electric power fundamentally altered the industrial landscape.
Windmill stump - ihr 03039 is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 7178. View the official record →
Windmill stump at Down is a nineteenth-century industrial monument, now reduced to its substantial stone base. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 7178.
Windmill stump - ihr 03039 dates from the c19th period, and is classified as a windmill. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Windmill stump - ihr 03039 is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 7178.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Magheradrool fort. counterscarp rath (2.9 km), Counterscarp rath (3.1 km), Rath (4.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Windmill stump - ihr 03039's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Windmill stump - ihr 03039 stands on Gala Group, bedrock that formed in the Telychian. The rock here is wacke.