Welcome to Varcoe Windmills

We are manufacturers of VARCOE Windmills. A Great Australian for more than 100 years.

Varcoe Windmills were first made in 1911 when Mr T H Varcoe purchased the blacksmithing business of a Mr Williams who already made a windmill called a Truman. Truman was an earlier blacksmith and was a Lord Mayor of Mount Gambier.

Mr Varcoe did not like the Truman mill as it was big and a direct drive and he set about designing a smaller oil bath geared mill, which was marketed successfully locally.

Gradually the windmill sales grew and in about 1920 Varcoe made what he claimed was the first oil bath, direct action windmill produced in the world.

Over the years, several models were produced and perfected and the present double geared mill and the oil bath direct action are his design almost unchanged.

In 1979 the Mount Gambier City Council bought the Varcoe Foundry which was built around 1913 (by Mr Varcoe) in the centre of the city (Ferrers Street) as the site was required for the construction of a civic centre. Although most of the building was demolished to make way for the civic centre, the facade of it remains. Varcoe sold the windmill part of his business to Chapman and Saunders Pty Ltd who continued the manufacture of the mills until December 1984 when Dean & McCabe Windmills was set up for the sole purpose of manufacturing and marketing the Varcoe windmills.

In May 2023 Dean & McCabe Windmills closed and the manufacture of Varcoe Windmills has since been taken over by Nathan Woodruff trading as Varcoe Windmills. They sold Australia-wide and overseas. A 10ft wheel geared model based on the original Varcoe design has been introduced into the range.