Did most windmills usually turn clockwise, did they usually turn anticlockwise, or was there never any convention and equal numbers of each type of mill existed?

Linus_337

There are examples of windmills whose sails rotate clockwise, and examples that rotate anticlockwise. The direction is always taken from in front of the mill, and looking at the sails, the solid edge is the leading edge. An example of nearby similar mills whose sails rotate in opposite directions can be seen in Cambridgeshire at Bourn (anticlockwise) and Great Gransden (clockwise). http://www.windmillworld.com/windmills/faq.htm The following site indicates that the sails on most Dutch mills turn anti-clockwise. However, it add that mills "in other countries" have sails that turn clockwise. http://home.tiscali.nl/~t657021/mills-uk.html Still other sites indicate that the direction of turn depends upon the direction of the wind! Jan 20 04, 3:13 PM

ecky71

I've worked on a lot of windmills in Australia and the 6", 8", 10", 12" and 14" fans all turn clockwise, looking from the front (tail behind the fan.) The 5" and 7" fans turned anti-clockwise, but these were an uncommon size. Jan 26 04, 8:37 AM