Friends of Windmill Gardens

Friends of Windmill Gardens

Contact: Jean Kerrigan, Chair, Friends of Windmill Gardens
Brixton Windmill Centre, 100 Blenheim Gardens, London, SW2 5DA

Email: info@brixtonwindmill.org

To visit our website, click HERE

The Friends of Windmill Gardens is a local residents’ group that was set up in 2003 to campaign for the restoration, preservation and enhancement of Brixton Windmill and Windmill Gardens. We are a registered charity, with the following aims:

  • to support the restoration, preservation and continued use of the Grade II* listed windmill
  • to build a unique education facility for schools and the local community that will put the windmill and its history into context
  • to enhance the park by creating a green oasis to benefit local residents – adults, young people and children – and attract visitors and windmill enthusiasts from further afield
  • to provide community events that bring local people together to celebrate and enjoy this unique historic building and open space.

Thanks to campaigning by the Friends of Windmill Gardens, the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded a grant of just under £400,000 in March 2010 for the full restoration of Brixton Windmill. Lambeth Council and the Friends provided additional money, staff and volunteer time to fund the project, which included a four-year access and education programme. In July 2020 the Friends signed a 20-year lease to manage the Brixton Windmill Centre built by Lambeth Council beside the windmill. This new community asset serves as an education, visitor, and community centre where school children, local people and visitors from across London can come to discover more about Brixton Windmill built for Surrey miller John Ashby in 1816. The mill was worked by his family until 1934. Today local volunteers provide guided tours and once again mill wholemeal Brixton Flour using stones installed on the first floor of the mill in 1902.

The Friends provide a voice for the local community, particularly for those people who love the windmill and use the park and its facilities. Join us to keep up to date on the progress of the windmill project and find out more about our future plans.