Warriner Windmill, Bloxham Grove

The Warriner Windmill is a small timber post mill on high ground at Bloxham Grove, between Bloxham and Adderbury, south of Banbury. The engineer Henry Warriner built it in 1865 as a memorial to all windmills. Historic England lists it Grade II, and its machinery survives. It is not open, but it stands near a footpath.

The story of the windmill

It was never quite an ordinary mill. The listing says Henry Warriner designed it as a one-third scale post mill, built 'as a memorial to all windmills'. Born in Banbury in 1819, he was a marine and railway engineer who spent much of his career with Maudslay, Sons and Field of Lambeth, fitting engines to Admiralty ships, and he died in 1909. He was the nephew of the second George Warriner, who farmed here.

The family had made its name here. George Warriner bought and combined the Old and New farms at Bloxham Grove about 1797, in the years the parish's open fields were enclosed, in 1794 and 1802. His son, the second George, was an improving farmer whom Arthur Young noticed, and the farm later had a steam engine driving its milling machinery. The machinery is credited to John Lampitt and Co. of Banbury, though sources differ on whether that means the mill, the barn or both. The Warriners farmed here until the late nineteenth century and owned the place until 1916.

After them the mill had a rough time. The Mills Archive records it in decay in 1910, missing one of its four sails, and the Victoria County History saw a small derelict mill in 1964. It was later restored, and a mills database notes a restoration in 2008. The same database lists it as not functional, so do not expect it to turn.

What to look for

The listing describes four cloth-covered sails on a weatherboarded body with a gable roof, the whole thing turning on a main post held on brick piers, and that is the point of a post mill: the entire body swings to face the wind. This one is a third of full size. Inside, which you cannot visit, the listing records a single pair of stones about 76cm across, driven from above by a wooden gear wheel, with a governor below and a detachable hopper.

The Warriner School

The name you will see locally belongs to the Warriner School at Bloxham Grove, which opened in 1971 and runs its own school farm. The school does not say on its website how it came by the name, and the accounts we found disagree, so we leave the question open. It is a working school and not a place to visit for the windmill, so please do not use its grounds or its drive as a way in.

Visiting

You look at this one from outside. It stands about 200m south-west of the farm buildings at Bloxham Grove, and the listing notes that its high ground beside a footpath makes it prominent. We found no opening times, no owner's invitation and no public path right up to it, so stay on the right of way. Check the line on an OS map before you set out, and treat it as the reason for a walk and not a stop by car. Older descriptions, including our own old page, call it a white smock mill turned into a house. The listing shows it is neither.

Getting there

The best way is on foot. The Adderbury Circular Walk, published by Cherwell District Council and the village's footpath committee, is 3.6 miles (6km), crossing farmland and the Sor Brook meadows towards Bloxham Grove, with a view of the windmill. The leaflet counts two stiles, several kissing gates, two narrow footbridges and mud in wet weather. That is the 2007 leaflet. Cherwell still lists the walk, and its current version on the Go Jauntly app counts one stile, several kissing gates and one narrow footbridge. The council says it checks its routes about once a year and that field paths can be muddy or flooded after wet weather.

By road, Bloxham Grove Road is OX15 4LL, and we found no parking for visitors, so start in Adderbury or Bloxham and walk. The Stagecoach S4 stops in Adderbury, about 15 minutes from Banbury and roughly hourly by day, and the 488 and 489 serve Bloxham.

Nearby

St Mary's Church and Adderbury House are in the next village. The Bell and The Red Lion at Adderbury are the pubs to end the walk in. Our guides to Bloxham and Adderbury cover both villages, and the villages near Banbury sets them in the wider country.