Danish Smock mill from 1895 at Sønderho, Fanø, with fantail
A fantail is a small windmill mounted at right angles to the sails, at the rear of the windmill, and which turns the cap automatically to bring it into the wind. The fantail was patented in 1745 by Edmund Lee, a blacksmith working at Brockmill Forge near Wigan, England, and was perfected on mills around Leeds and Hull towards the end of the 18th century. Fantails are found on all types of traditional windmills and are especially useful where changes in wind direction are frequent. They are more common in England, Denmark and Germany than in other parts of Europe, and are little-known on windmills elsewhere except where English millwrighting traditions were in evidence.
The rotating fantail turns the cap of the windmill via a system of gearing to a toothed rack around the top of the mill tower, or to wheels running on the ground in the case of a post mill. It does so until the fantail sails are oriented parallel to the wind, whereby the wind can no longer move them. When the fantail is oriented parallel to the wind, the main sails are in the optimal perpendicular orientation and produce maximum power.[1]
A fantail is a small windmill mounted at right angles to the sails, at the rear of the windmill, and which turns the cap automatically to bring it into...
automatically is by using a fantail, a small windmill mounted at right angles to the sails, at the rear of the windmill. These are also fitted to tail...
(1847) show her to have had a roof mounted Fantail, similar to the arrangement still found on Icklesham windmill. Lashmar's New Mill was the most southerly...
gearing. In 1745 an English engineer, Edmund Lee, invented the windmillfantail – a little windmill mounted at right angles to the sails, at the rear of the...
clinker boat hull and is a traditional style for Norfolk. The windmill has four sails and a fantail. The mill's scoop wheel stands some way from the mill, which...
West Kingsdown Windmill is a Grade II listed smock mill in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, that was built in the early nineteenth century at Farningham...
a six-storey windmill with complete gear, six sails and fantail which still works today. It is a Grade I listed building. The windmill is one of the...
Halnaker Windmill is a tower mill which stands on Halnaker Hill, northeast of Chichester, Sussex, England. The mill is reached by a public footpath from...
governor is generally considered the first powered feedback system. The windmillfantail is an earlier example of automatic control, but since it does not have...
converted to residential accommodation, with a new cap and fantail added. East Runton Windmill is a five storey tower mill with a stage at second floor...
Saxtead Green Post Windmill is a Grade II* listed post mill at Saxtead Green, Woodbridge, Suffolk, England which is also a Scheduled monument and has been...
fan of a bird, see Rump (croup) Windmillfantail, which turns the cap automatically to bring it into the wind Fantail (disambiguation) This disambiguation...
lost its purpose and ceased work, with the sails and fantail being removed. Wandsworth Common Windmill is a small hexagonal smock mill built on a low brick...
sails, and fitting a fantail. It was damaged in a storm in February 1894, when the cap and sails were blown off; the repaired windmill had six patent sails...
Holgate Windmill is a tower mill at Holgate in York, North Yorkshire, England which has been restored to working order. Holgate tower windmill was built...
the mill was cosmetically restored. The cap was remoulded, and a new fantail and light wooden sails added. The mill and cottage were purchased in 1971...
three months to complete. The sails and fantail were to be returned to the mill in early 2021. List of windmills in the East Riding of Yorkshire Historic...
was winded by a fantail. The mill featured on the 1971 and 1977 2p coins issued by Guernsey. Little Sark Windmill Little Sark Windmill was a tower mill...
Drinkstone Windmills are a pair of windmills at Drinkstone, Suffolk, England. They consist a post mill and a smock mill. The post mill is Grade I listed...
the fantail will not work. "Village News - Pakenham Windmill". Pakenham village website. Retrieved 28 May 2009. Dolman, Peter (1978). Windmills in Suffolk...
Windmill is a Grade II* listed tower mill at Cley next the Sea, Norfolk, England which has been converted to residential accommodation. Cley Windmill...
fantail was added to turn the mill to wind automatically, replacing the manual tailpole previously carried. The mill had been fitted with a fantail by...
stones were driven by a Stone Nut with 25 cogs. Terling Windmill was winded by an eight-bladed fantail, driving an iron worm on the curb. Wood 1818 Frederick...
boat-shaped, similar to those found on Norfolk windmills. Winding was by an eight-bladed fantail. South Ockendon Windmill had a cast-iron windshaft carrying two...
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