West Mill at West Boldon was built in 1834. In 1893 a terrific gale, perhaps the Great Storm of November that year, spun the sails so fast that when the brake was applied the resulting friction and heat caused a fire that destroyed the sails and caused considerable other damage.

Other mills are known to have caught fire in this manner. Today the mill is a Grade II listed building and has been converted and incorporated into a house.

Brown used the mill as a central feature in this delicate watercolour. In the foreground he showed a labourer ploughing a field on the sloping hillside at west Boldon on a late-summer afternoon. In the distance stands the distinctive spire of the parish church of St Nicholas. Before the houses were built across this area, the mill and the church were both landmarks on the open hillside.

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: South Shields Museum, Tyne & Wear
Material: Pencil and watercolour
Artist: James Miller Brown (1856-1908)
Date: 1892

Image Details
Date: 13 May 2023
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Wide Camera 26mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/50s
ISO: 400
Licensing: Image of a North East Museums asset. This image cannot be licensed.