Skidby Mill

Welcome to Skidby Mill

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.

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.

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, 9am to 5pm. 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.

If you're visiting with children there’s plenty to do alongside exhibitions to make your visit fun and interesting. Hunt for the mice and owls hidden around the museum, make your own sand brick, or have a go at rag rugging.

Under 5s can play with farm themed activities or borrow an Explorer Kit to make fascinating discoveries around the exhibition spaces. Spot '5 Things' activities to do and collect a sticker.

You can also borrow an Outdoor Discovery Pack to help you explore the garden - suitable for children aged 4 and up. A refundable deposit is taken for this.

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. Level access to ground floor and radar toilet. Lift up to education room. Mill tower and flour-bagging area not accessble to wheelchairs and prams, but webcams are set up in the Village Life Gallery. 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)