ABOUT THE WINDMILL

The Landlord
Finbar Burke, originally from Ireland, took over the lease of the Windmill pub in the late 1990's and set about improving the decor and character of the pub after it's neglect by a steady stream of previous short term landlords. Finbar had been a publican of a few other local houses over the years and is known to be both efficient and affable and is always on hand to offer any assistance he can to surrounding residents as well as his regular customers. Fin's hard work and no nonsense approach has now established the Windmill as a real community hub and he has also been instrumental in raising funds for local charities such as the Shooting Star children's hospice, for whom he has now raised over £13,000 for, as well as the nearby Greenwood Voluntary Care Centre.

The Pub's History
On the 20th April 1785 John Naylor, a millwright, was granted a piece of land on the common to erect a windmill. By 1863 it's useful days were over and in 1876 it was demolished. The wooden footbridge gave access from the miller's house across the river Longford to the Windmill public house. The original Windmill public house was built in 1868. It stood across the river from the Windmill and was rebuilt in 1901. See Gallery for photos.

Being away from the main Hampton Hill High Street, it's customers tend to be regulars as apposed to passersby and this gives it the friendly atmosphere as everyone knows each other.  When strangers do come in they are always warmly welcomed and accepted readily providing they are respectful and polite. During the day the clientele tends to be a more mature crowd who love to sit and chat, read newspapers or books and work on their laptops. The Windmill has a unique book exchange table where you pay a 50p donation to the Shooting Star Hospice to buy one. Books are donated buy the Windmill's customers.

Early evening generally becomes busy with local residents enjoying a quiet pint after work. When rugby and football matches are being shown on the two TV screens, the pub gets quite lively but there are never any disputes as Finbar runs a tight ship.

Pubs Galore Review by Ray Rattus 27 May 2010
"Apparently the current building dates from 1901, which almost certainly makes it a very early Edwardian rebuild of a previous pub on the same site dating from the 1860s. It still has all the original external tiling, plus the “jug and bottle” etched and cut glass in the now unused door on the left. The original (cast iron I would guess) pillars are still there in the main bar. Inside it’s a real pub – carpeted, banquettes, normal tables and chairs, and a dartboard bearing the pub’s name are all there. The fact that it was previously a Charrington’s pub is apparent from the distinctive green inlaid glazed windows, and the Toby lamp over one of the doors. Another thing that I liked about this pub is the table in front of the fireplace on the right with a couple of dozen or so books on it – presumably some sort of free book exchange arrangement.

The ales on were Young’s Bitter (at £3.10 a pint), OSH, and a third pump had a Bass clip reversed. There were a dozen or so punters in there at 1.30 on a Tuesday afternoon, all having the look and displaying the behavioural patterns of local regulars. The landlady saw me taking a photograph of the exterior, and said she was pleased that I had managed to include her hanging baskets in my shot, and took me inside and showed me the photos on the wall of the pub in days past. Having had the tour I felt obliged to have a pint – she said I didn’t have to, but I nevertheless persuaded her to sell me one. She clearly hadn’t sussed me for the sort of drinker and pub enthusiast that I truly am. This pub is one of those so very rarely found establishments – a hidden gem. I would be more than happy to drop in here for another pint sometime."

This review can be found on: www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/27547/

Hampton Hill History
The name Hampton may come from the Anglo-Saxon words hamm meaning an enclosure in the bend of a river and ton meaning farmstead or settlement.

"The history of New Hampton (later Hampton Hill) really commences from the coming in to operation of the Enclosure Act of 1811, when The Common was parcelled out amongst the local property holders, and the various allotments enclosed” wrote Henry Ripley, first historian of Hampton, in 1883. Before enclosure “The Common” was a place of furze, briers and heather, used by Hamptonians to graze cattle and cut brushwood for fuel. The only known buildings were Upper Lodge in Bushy Park and a windmill, built in 1785 which gave the Windmill public house it's name."

By 1839 there were a good number of buildings along the High Street, with a few more in Windmill Road and Uxbridge Road, but the rest of the area was still open field. In 1850 there were 24 traders, including three beer retailers. The population grew in the 1850s and 1860s with the arrival of labourers building the Hampton Waterworks and the railway. Many of these people were housed in “wooden shacks” or “hovels”. The increase in population led to the building of a new parish church, St James’s, in 1863. The first vicar, the Rev F J Fitzwygram, was a man of energy and private means. He set about improving the infrastructure of the village, building cottages and houses and better facilities for the workers, using his own money. The 1861 population of 710 rapidly increased to 1322 in 1871, 2014 in 1881 and to 2440 by 1891. Now, in 2010, the population has grown to over 9040

Hampton Hill was hit a number of times during the Blitz, the first major incident was in November 1940 when first 63 Park rd was gutted when an abandoned Wellington bomber crashed on it. On the next night much of Alpha road was destroyed and five people died after a Luftwaffe bomber dropped a landmine on it. Subsequently Hampton Hill had a number of lucky escapes with bombs and incendiaries either failing to explode or landing in Bushy Park, Fulwell Golf Course, and other open land, with the next major incident being in June 1944 when a doodlebug exploded near Longford Close and killed one person.

There are many nice restaurants on Hampton Hill High Street just a short walk down Windmill Road and local attractions include Bushy Park, Hampton Court Palace,  Hampton Hill Playhouse Theatre, Twickenham Stadium, the River Thames, Twickenham Museum and Kew Gardens. London Waterloo is just 35 minutes by train from the closest train station which is Fulwell.