Help bring Hunt Brothers timber Jill home to Cambridgeshire

Hunt Brothers were a family firm of Millwrights based in Soham, working on corn and drainage mills. The business was owned and run by successive generations of the Hunt family until its closure in 1954 following the death of Thomas Barnet Hunt, then aged 94. Thomas had continued working almost up to his last days.

In 1955 Thomas's son Tom donated the firm's timber Jill to a museum in memory of his father. The timber Jill (which was probably constructed by Hunt Brothers for their own use in the 19th Century) was moved to another museum in 1988 and is now no longer required. Ownership of the Jill is being transferred to Wicken Windmill so that we can bring it home to Cambridgeshire and display it at the mill, a place where it was almost certainly used. It is a large and fragile item which needs careful transportation in a substantial enclosed vehicle so the mill needs to raise some funds to cover the cost of removal including truck hire and diesel. Any surplus money from this appeal will go towards its restoration and a covered display and storage area for it (and other Wicken Windmill related artifacts)

Please help us to return this historic piece of millwrighting history to Cambridgeshire. To show our gratitude names of donors will be displayed with the Jill unless the donor wishes to remain anonymous.