Green's Windmill & Science Centre

With all the current fuss about developing alternative technologies, you could be forgiven for thinking that wind power is all a load of newfangled, cutting edge, state of the art, New Age thinking.

You might, therefore, be surprised to hear that it’s all been going on for a few years now.

The windmills were first used to grind corn about 1,000 years ago in Persia, present day Iran, where there is still at least one of those ancient mills in working order.

They arrived in Europe in the C14th and very quickly became a feature of the landscape. Until fairly recently, the were the way to grind corn.

Of course, the industrial revolution put paid to that with the invention of the steam engine and then the infernal combustion engine. Now it is a rarity to see a windmill. Even rarer to see one that actually still grinds corn.

Nottingham is therefore extremely lucky to have one of the finest examples of a ‘tower windmill’ still grinding corn that you can buy and take home to make the finest bread with.

Greens Windmill – named after George Green a brilliant mathematician and physicist who also lived and worked in the windmill – is free to enter and gives you the rare chance to see just how these beautiful machines go about their business.

Opening times
Wednesday to Sunday 10am to 4pm
check out the website
Greens Windmill Interview

A Short History of Green's Windmill


1807 The windmill was built in Sneinton. At the time Sneinton was a small village outside the city of Nottingham. It is the largest of several windmills around Nottingham at the time.

1817 Mr Green, the miller at the time built a large family house adjacent to the windmill.

1828 George Green, the son of the original miller, publishes "Essay on the Application of Mathematical Analysis to the Theories of Electricity and Magnetism”

1829 George Green takes over the running of the windmill after the death of his father.

1833 George Green lets the windmill and goes to Cambridge University to study mathematics and physics.

1841 George Green dies at 47 having returned to Sneinton.

1860's The windmill was abandoned. New industrial methods of milling corn were cheaper and more efficient.

1919 The mill became the home of H Gell and Co. manufacturers of boot and furniture polish.

1947 A fire destroyed most of the windmill, only the tower was left standing.

1979 The remains of the windmill tower was taken over by the George Green Memorial Fund who began the long process of restoring it.

1985 The windmill is finally opened to the public and grain is once again ground.

Greens Windmill

Who Was Greorge Green?

"George Green (14 July 1793 – 31 May 1841) was a British mathematical physicist who wrote An Essay on the Application of Mathematical Analysis to the Theories of Electricity and Magnetism (Green, 1828). The essay introduced several important concepts, among them a theorem similar to the modern Green's theorem, the idea of potential functions as currently used in physics, and the concept of what are now called Green's functions. Green was the first person to create a mathematical theory of electricity and magnetism and his theory formed the foundation for the work of other scientists such as James Clerk Maxwell, William Thomson, and others. His work on potential theory ran parallel to that of Carl Friedrich Gauss."
Wikipedia

George Green

Getting There

The Windmill it is about half an hours walk east of Nottingham Centre.

Free parking is available on Windmill Lane, Sneinton.

PostcodeNG2 4QB

Bus number 43 from King Street stops at Windmill Lane.

Nottingham City Website

Greens Windmill website

Trip Advisor

Give While You Shop

Give as you live Raise free funds for Hothouse Theatre and Oh MyNottz by shopping online with Give as you Live, over 4200 retailers to choose from, shop & raise a donation at no cost to you!

Click here

Oh My Nottz is a HotHouse Theatre production. Co. No. 6505843 Charity No. 1154523. Tel 07963020259 email guy@hothousetheatre.com website www.hothousetheatre.com