King’s Road windmill, 1914 - from the Spanton Jarman collection

This image appeared in the Bury Free Press of January 17, 1914, and may have been commissioned by the newspaper.

It shows the demolition of a smock windmill on the north side of King’s Road, and to the west of Chalk Road. The mill dated from c1800 and formed part of the West Mills complex, including a steam mill, occupied by the Limmer family, who gave their name to the nearby terrace. Between 1880 and 1914 ownership passed from H Barton to W Clarke, to Benjamin S Jennings and lastly to Mr King, of Burlingham and Sons, who transferred the business to Station Hill.

-- This picture is part of a remarkable collection of 4,000 photographs in the care of Bury St Edmunds Past and Present Society which offers a glimpse into the town’s history.

Taken by two families of professional photographers, the Spantons and the Jarmans, the images span a period from the 1860s through to the outbreak of World War Two. The fragile glass plate negatives were donated to the society in 1997 and in recent years many of these have been ‘digitised’ thanks to a Lottery grant and donations - a furtehr £2,000 is needed to complete the task. They can be viewed at www.burypastandpresent.org.uk where you can also find details about membership and the group’s programme of events and lectures. The Spanton-Jarman collection is held at the Bury St Edmunds branch of the Suffolk Record Office. For more details about the Record Office, including its programme of talks and courses, visit www.suffolk.gov.uk/sro.