Some twenty years ago Peter had visited the Channel  Islands and discovered that there were very few records of the windmills which once existed.  He therefore set about doing a thorough survey, first of the windmills of Guernsey, Sark, and Herm, and a less detailed one of those on Jersey.

On Guernsey of the fifteen mills which once existed the remains of seven are still visible, either as derelict towers or converted into desirable residences.  One, Vale Mill (right) built in 1850, was heightened by 40ft. during the German Occupation to act as a lookout tower and still has the remains of graffiti visible inside.  Le Hechet (or Ozanne’s) mill (below) built in 1825 was converted into living accommodation in about 1967.

There is no machinery in any of the mills but the towers are used as seamarks by the local fishermen.

He then moved on to Sark where there were three windmills, two now being ruined but the third one the Seigneurial Mill (right) still has its machinery intact – although the Germans removed its sails and used the tower as an observation post.  

Peter’s travels then took him to Herm, where he found just one mill (far right), a parallel-sided tower mill with a crenellated top and external stairway.  It was built by the Cordelier monks sometime between 1440 and 1485, but it was much restored in the mid 1880s, and is now used as a garden store.

Another mill is just used as a seamark tower, and the last one is right at the southern end of the island and is in fact the most southerly surviving windmill in the British Isles.   It has been incorporated into a luxury private residence.