Introduction
Village folklore has it that there was a windmill in Stansted for several centuries. There is self-evidently no windmill existing today, so…was there a windmill and, if so, where was it situated? There are enough small clues that make us 99% certain that such a windmill did exist.

First recorded in 1322
The first recorded reference to a mill is in 1322 when the post-mortem inquest of William Inge, held at Eynsford, stated that the “…aforesaid William held the manor of Stanstede” from the Archbishop of Canterbury….Also, there is a windmill there, and it is worth 20 shillings per annum….”. Four years later at the post-mortem inquest of Eudo de la Zouche, made at Stanstede, the Jury “say upon their oath that Eudo de la Zouche held on the day of his death, of the inheritance of his wife Joan, the moiety of the windmill worth 10 shillings per annum…’
(Source:- pp 86 and 89 of A Glance at the Hundred of Wrotham by Reverend T.S. Frampton, 1881).

Conflicting evidence in 1649
Fred Hohler, who owned and ran Court Lodge Farm for many years, also wrote a regular column in the Parish Notes. In 2001 he said “I know to exist a 1649 will of a certain Henry Jackley of Stansted, miller. Jackley left 10 shillings to the poor of the parish, and ‘the messuage or tenement wherein I now dwell, called commonly the Windmill’ to his sister to hold until his son Thomas was 21, ‘paying such rent and taxes as belongeth to be paid out of the said farm’.” Fred Hohler added that “there was no ‘said farm’ in the will. A messuage is a dwelling house with outbuildings and land, and a tenement is a piece of land or something rented from someone else. Later in the will, Jackley refers to ‘the residue of my goods and chattels, cattle, debts and household stuff…’ Nowhere does he talk of a mill – nor does his will refer to any miller’s equipment. He is clearly a farmer with some cattle – and not much else. It is not obviously the will of a working miller.”

Evidence from maps
A windmill is shown on 5 historic maps. These were published in 1682, 1736, 1740 1778 and 1797. The first of these also includes a small drawing of the mill. The location of the mill is reasonably consistent across all the maps. The mill is not shown on the 1841 Tithe map which was very detailed and almost certainly would have included it had it still existed at that time.
If the drawing 1682 map is of the mill itself then it was almost certainly a post mill which, although large, was essentially a structure that swivelled on a vertical post. For the sails to turn into the wind most effectively the whole body of the mill had to be turned by hand. It seems to have survived the great storm of 1703 during which many windmills were destroyed although it could have been rebuilt. To view these maps please visit the ‘Areas & Maps’ section or click here.

1682 map of Fairseat – The map is accurate as far as Fairseat Is concerned so can be considered reliable (unlike many other maps of this period). 
1736 map (the Bowen map). This ½” to the mile map was based on an earlier (1670) larger-scale map by John Ogiby. The windmill is clearly shown on the London to Wrotham strip map. The Bowen map refers to this mill as “Stansted Mill”. It is also shown on the 1769 map.
1740 map
1778 Hasted map. The windmill is clearly depicted on Hasted’s map of 1778
1796 map – the Hundred of Wrotham
1841 tithe map showing a now lost footpath running across…

A windmill is not shown on the 1841 tithe map although there are 3 fields in a row which sound relevant:
Little Mill Field (ref 267) is immediately east of the pond at the top of Stansted (Windmill) Hill and in 1841 was in arable use. It is currently called Pond Field.
Bushy Field (ref 268) is the next field east and was a meadow. It is currently called Bushey Meadow. In 1770 this field was conjoined with Mill Field Neck (below) and was called Millfield.
Mill Field Neck (ref 269) is the next field east towards Fairseat and is immediately south of Turkin’s Corner. It was in arable use. It is currently called Millfield.

Lost footpath
The 3 fields had a footpath running across the middle of them on an east/west axis. This footpath no longer exists The footpath is not obviously a route to anywhere and its existence on the map of 1841 makes more sense if a windmill had been situated somewhere along its length. In 1841 these fields were at the eastern boundary of the 380-acre Court Lodge Farm which was owned by DG James and farmed by William Water.

“The Story of Meopham Mill” by John M Carley
In this book, there is the following reference: “There was a mill in Stansted, on the road between Fairseat and Stansted. It stood on the west side of the road, at about map reference 612620. It is shown on the map of 1682 referred to in paragraph 4, [a map drawn to show the estate of Sir Roger Twisden] and if the cartographer is accepted as accurate, this too was a post mill. It is not shown on Symonson’s map of 1596, but this is not conclusive evidence, as some known mills do not appear. The Stansted mill appears on a map by Bowen dated 1736, and on another map drawn in 1796, but no later reference to it has been traced.”

1907 anecdote
The following information has been received from the Mills Trust. It is a recollection of a car journey in 1907:
“When we were passing a pond on the way to Fairseat from South Ash, via Pease Hill and Stansted Valley, Lord Avebury suddenly checked the car, saying, ‘I saw a boulder.’
‘I am glad you saw it,’ I replied. ‘It was a puzzle to me for many years, until I found there had been a windmill here, and this boulder had been used in connection with the mill.’ [Source: Page 208 Harrison of Ightham, by Edward R. Harrison, OUP, 1928]

Current evidence
In the mid 1970s, the local Council officially named all the roads in the Parish. Thus all the old local names were replaced with those that we know today. The current Stansted Hill had been commonly known as Windmill Hill for many years. The pond at the top of the hill is also called Windmill Pond. In the front garden wall of Forge Cottage, Tumblefield Road is embedded a stone which looks like it might once have been part of mill machinery although the current resident, who has lived there since WW2, knows nothing of its origins.

Conclusion
So where does this leave us? That there was a windmill in Stansted that pre-dated 1322. By the late 1700s, it almost certainly sat at the top of Stansted Hill behind the pond (Windmill pond) with a footpath leading to it from the direction of Fairseat and Stansted/Ash. Any more than that is speculation.