The new mill was built in the early 19th century by Mr. Thomas Rook.
His son, Robert, occupied and worked the mill for many years. Robert Rook was a well-known and respected local farmer and yeoman. The four-sailed new mill worked in much the same way as the five-sailed old mill, fully at work in its heyday as a flour mill.
In the tower of the mill was the brake and driving wheel with a large oak beam. A shaft ran down through the floors to drive the machinery, with cogged wheels driving the grinding stones on the second floor. The grinding stones turned the grain into meal on the bottom floor through meal spouts.
The ground floor was separated into flour, seconds, sharps, fine bran and course bran through the old finely perforated cylinders with a multitude of revolving brushes inside. In the early days it was the custom of the miller to be paid in kind for grinding by taking an allowance of six pounds from every bushel, a toll thus being levied on every bag.
The introduction of the silk flour dressing machines in the late 19th century, dealt a serious blow to the country milling industry, and when the roller system of crushing came in, their days as flour mills were over. Like the old mill, the new mill continued as a grist mill.
Sadly, just before the second world war, a sail fell off and the opposite sail was removed to balance the mill. Unfortunately, it was found that the mill could not grind fast enough under the power of the two remaining sails, so they too were removed, As a consequence, its grinding days came to an end.
No longer would the flat millers cart be seen making its way around the village gathering up the bags of corn. Today, like old mill, it stands silently, a reminder of the farming days of yesteryear.
Photograph from “East Yorkshire Windmills”. Caption reads No. 35 – Fisher’s Mill, Seaton Roes. Note the diagonal braces on the fantail.
Malcolm Young