Windmill

Windmill is a quiet hamlet of 15 houses, including a farm, sitting on a ridge on the 1000 feet contour above the Hope Valley.  It has panoramic views north across to the Kinder Plateau and south across open fields to Litton Hill.

At the site of the former High Rake lead mine to the west above Windmill, the remains of a 700 foot shaft and a huge boiler and engine house with two chimneys can be seen. The Peak District Mines Historical Society is excavating the site as an area of industrial and archaeological interest.

The origins of Windmill are obscure, and there is no evidence of a windmill here, despite the village's position on a windy ridge. The first reference in Cameron's "Place Names of Derbyshire" refers to "the Windmilne House 1607".