In 2013 the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) awarded their 86th Engineering Heritage Award (EHA) to Lacey Green Windmill, with the citation shown on the plaque below. The first EHA was made in June 1984, and in December 2017 they made their 114th award.
Lacey Green was the first windmill to be awarded an Engineering Heritage Award (EHA), so we naturally felt very honoured, and were very pleased that the citation not only states that the windmill is the oldest Smock Mill in the UK, but also mentions that the 15 years of restoration work was carried out by volunteers.
An iMechE EHA is a very prestigious award, and we join a list which includes Tower Bridge, Hawker Siddeley Harrier, Locomotion No 1, Thames Barrier, Tees Transporter Bridge, Rolls Royce RB211 engine, Channel Tunnel and Eurostar, SS Great Britain, Vickers Wellington Bomber, HMS Belfast, Quarry Bank Mill, Jaguar E-type, Falkirk Wheel, Mallard Locomotive.
Although a couple of the other recipients (Eling Tide Mill and Wortley Top Forge) are on sites that were in use before 1650, the wooden machinery at Lacey Green Windmill is undoubtedly the oldest actual machinery amongst all the recipients of an EHA.
90 people were at the windmill on Sunday 14th July 2013 to see John Wood (Chairman of the Heritage Committee of iMechE) present the EHA plaque to Barbara Wallis (on behalf of the Windmill Restoration Committee).
Extra displays had been arranged for the day, such as this series of photos showing the windmill in its various conditions from 1900 to date.
This page ( eha-summary.php ) was last updated on 13 February 2018.
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