The bequest that Samuel Bass,
basket maker, received from his
cousins, half in 1832 from John Bass followed by the rest from Sarah Bass in
1841, was described by John Bass as "...land known as The Windmill at Littleham
Devon" The Devon Record Office
state that there was a windmill near West
Down and Gore Lanes. No information can yet be found on this.
Some information can be gleaned about a windmill on The Point, Exmouth. [location]
According to the website at
http://www.exmouth-guide.co.uk/history.htm, it wasn't until some time later than the 13th century that Exmouth
developed after the granting of land to a miller who built a windmill on the
exposed land at The Point.
The Point Windmill has long since been demolished. Its site can now only
be estimated as being between the Docks and Point Terrace.
The Point Windmill that was demolished sometime before 1850, according to
Eric R. Delderfield's "Exmouth Milestones", was built by Messrs C. Webber in
1797 at a cost of £300 and they still owned it in 1825 although not used.
However, a news item in Trewmans Exeter Flying Post, dated 11 April 1799,
attributes the building of the windmill to a Mr Champling. This report
states that Mr Champling was struck by the vanes and was killed.
(see cutting)
Another news item from the Trewmans Exeter Flying Post, this time dated
12 March 1818, reports a gale so violent that the vanes reached a speed high
enough to cause a fire, destroying the upper part of the windmill. This
happened on Tuesday, 7 March 1818. (see cutting)
Since the parish of Littleham includes "The Point" as indicated in
this map, I am inclined to believe that the one on Exmouth Point is the one
referred to in the two Wills, mainly because it was so near shipbuilding
activities and perhaps that is how the Bass's of Lympstone came to own it
(and whatever went with it). According to "Exmouth Milestones" by Eric R.
Delderfield, "...Messrs Walters and Wishart's and Mr George Hook's
boat-building premises were immediately adjoining it".
If the Point Windmill is the correct one, then it seems possible to me
that the bequest could have been something of a "white elephant" as far as
the recipient, Samuel Bass, who lived in Topsham, was concerned, since
the Point Windmill appears to have been demolished quite soon after he
inherited the remainder of the property in 1841. UPDATE : Additional
evidence supporting the above has come to light in the form of an item in
the newspaper "Western Times", dated Saturday 11th September 1847, under the
heading The New Debt Court. It is a brief account of an action entitled
Simmel v. Bass. Simmel had agreed to lay a barn floor at the Windmill, near
Exmouth and Bass, the Defendant, had refused to pay. It contains the
statement "Defendant was a basket maker, and had a life interest in £20
a-year, the rent of this estate at Exmouth".
(see cutting) |
