Skidby Mill

Welcome to Skidby Mill

Limited open days at Skidby Mill

Skidby Mill is now moving to a winter opening pattern. Please check back here for regular updates on any unforeseen closures. Answer phone messages can also be left on (01482) 848405 and staff will respond as soon as possible. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Entries for the Children's Art competition can be returned on days we are open. They can also be brought in on Mondays and Tuesdays between 10am-12noon subject to staff availability. Please ring the mill entrance doorbell if the mill is closed. Alternatively, please use the letter box located in the red door next to the base of the mill tower.

We look forward to your visit
The Skidby Mill team

As you travel towards Skidby, you will see the impressive four-sailed mill standing on top of the hill. Unusual to most surviving mills around the UK, is that Skidby Mill still has all of its original outbuildings around the courtyard. It is in these converted buildings you will find the Museum of East Riding Rural Life.

The Museum of East Riding Rural Life

Explore the outbuildings of Skidby Mill and be transported into the life of East Riding Rural Villages. Find our extensive assortment of agricultural paraphernalia in the Agriculture Gallery, including our Alex West and Norman Creaser collections of market gardening, tools and models. Learn what it means to live in a rural village in the Village Life Gallery. Get an honest insight into the lifestyle by reading the experiences and memories of local people, displayed around the exhibitions. Up on the flour bagging floor there is a display on the restoration of the mill that took place between 2008 and 2010.

Please note: Currently we have suspended milling and our stone-ground flour is not available. We apologise for any disappointment. Read more on the 2021 renovations further down this page.

Bicentenary Art Competition

In 2021 Skidby Windmill is 200 years old. In order to celebrate the anniversary, we would like you to draw or create an original image of the landscape, buildings and area around Skidby Mill. You can use any art media you wish to create a 2D picture - pens, pencils, charcoals, wax crayons, paints, inks or collage. Please note we will not be able to accept any 3D work. All work must be original and not a copy of existing work or feature any copyrighted images such as cartoon characters. Prizes will be awarded to winning entries.

Entries cost £1 and must be A4 size. There are three age categories, under 5, under 11, and under 18. To enter, collect an entry form from Skidby Mill or any East Riding Library, or download and print your own. Submit you artwork, payment and completed form to Skidby Mill between 10am to 12noon Saturday to Tuesday, before Monday, 8 November 2021. Full terms and conditions can be found on the leaflet. Any questions, please contact Skidby Mill or get in touch with @ERMuseums on Facebook and Twitter.

East Riding Rural Life Project

Inside the Village Life Gallery you will find changing exhibitions in the display run by the volunteers of the East Riding Rural Life Project. Search our events and exhibitions page to find out what is currently on show.

2021 Renovations

Skidby Mill is being renovated by a firm of professional millwrights. While works are ongoing, the sails of the mill have been removed to prevent damage. This means we are unable to sell any of our flour and the mill tower is closed for safety. Once works have been completed, we will review replacing the sails and restoring the milling of flour. At present, we do not have an estimated time for completion. Our priority is the sustainable running of the mill so that we can keep it open and generations to come can enjoy this wonderful heritage site.

Skidby Mill Museum remains fully open to visitors, and you can access the flour bagging area on the first floor, where we have a display of machinery used to grind animal feed during the height of Skidby Mill’s operation as a business. From here, you can also have a glimpse into the area where the ground flour descended via a chute from the stones above. A display in the base of the tower gives some information on the process of turning grain into flour.

The miller’s garden, adjacent to the mill, and the adjoining acreage with the wildlife meadow and children’s play equipment, are open to visitors at all times.

Sails Café

Sails Café in the Courtyard serves food freshly prepared on the premises using locally sourced ingredients wherever possible. A children's menu is available as well as picnic baskets made to order. The café can also cater for buffets for family gatherings, business lunches or meetings. The café is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm. Please note the cafe is closed on bank holidays.

About the mill

Download the fact sheets at the bottom of this page to discover more about Skidby Mill's history and how the mill works.

Please note: All interactive activities have been temporarily withdrawn from the museum during with the exception of the mice and owls hunt.

Please be aware there is no vehicle access to the mill courtyard. Free car parking is available 100m from the mill.

Visitors with limited mobility can be dropped off at the top entrance road leading to the mill. There is a wheelchair available to borrow during your visit on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, please ask at reception. Lift up to education room. Mill tower and flour-bagging area not accessble to wheelchairs and prams. Only assistance dogs are allowed in the mill and museum.

• Download the quiz sheet(pdf)
• Download colouring pages (pdf)
• Download Skidby Mill History factsheet (pdf)
• Download How the Mill Works factsheet (pdf)