Skerries Mills

The site holds a five-sail windmill, a four-sail windmill and a watermill, all on the same milling complex, which is unusual - most places had one or the other. Milling here goes back to the medieval period when the land belonged to the Augustinians; the surviving buildings are eighteenth and nineteenth-century and worked commercially until the 1920s. They were derelict by the 1980s and restored over a decade by a community trust, with new sails, new machinery and the millpond and watercourse reinstated, and all three are in working order. Guided tours take you through the mechanisms and, when wind and staffing allow, the sails turn and the stones grind. Flour milled on site is used in the bakery and cafe. The grounds and the millpond walk are free. It is a community-run operation, so tours depend on volunteers and the sails do not turn on demand.

What you actually see

• Three working mills - two windmills and a watermill on one site.
• The restored machinery - stones, gearing and sails returned to working order.
• The milling - grain ground on site when conditions allow.
• The bakery - bread made from the mills' own flour.

When to go

April to October for the best chance of the sails turning; tours run year-round with reduced winter hours. Wind determines whether the windmills work on any given day.

Honest expectations

The sails only turn in suitable wind and with staff available - many visitors see them still. Tours depend on volunteers. The site is small; one to two hours covers it.

Nearby

Skerries harbour and the coastal walk are close; Ardgillan Castle is north.