This brick and stone circular tower mill is an iconic landmark in Brisbane, built in 1828 just three years after convict settlement of Brisbane.
It is also culturally significant as the oldest surviving European structure in Queensland and one of only two surviving structures from the convict era.
Since flour was needed for the struggling penal colony as well as a means of disciplining the convicts, there were two sets of millstones, one linked to a treadmill and one driven by rotating wind- sails.
Work at the mill was from sunrise to sunset with a break in the day. Twenty-six men were required to work the mill and it was hard and dangerous work.
The mill operated by a convict miller Martin Frawley from the 1830’s to 1845. After years of breakdowns, closures and a lightning strike, the mill was sold in 1849. Due to a legal problem with the sale, ownership reverted to the Crown.
In 1861, the run-down building was converted to a telegraph signal station and later a flagpole and time ball was added to the roof of the tower – the ball dropped each day at 1pm so that Brisbane’s residents could set their watches. The time ball was used until 1930.
A large flagstaff was erected next to the windmill in 1865 and this was used to indicate what ships had arrived in port.
Later the tower was used for observation by the Fire Brigade, radio research in the 1920s and Queensland’s first television broadcast was transmitted from the tower in 1934.
Brisbane City Council accepted trusteeship of the tower in 1922 and since then the tower has had significant work done to repair the structure especially as part of Australia’s bicentennial celebrations in 1988.
In 2009, Council undertook a major restoration of the windmill as part of the 150th anniversary of Brisbane’s declaration as a municipality and Queensland’s separation from New South Wales.
In 2012, the tower was opened to the public for the first time as part of Brisbane Open House.
It stands today as a reminder of the early European settlement and a tourist landmark in Brisbane.
OLD WINDMILL TOWER TIMELINE – Brisbane City Council
THE OLD WINDMILL TOWER – WICKHAM TCE SPRING HILL QLD adapted by Jonzun Lee.
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Image: JONZUN LEE
Source: BCC online, Old Windmill Tower, Brisbane Heritage Sites; Spring Hill Heritage Tour Wickham Terrace,Playground and Recreation Association of Queensland 1997.
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