On 1 April 1971, the mill was advertised for sale in The Times as an April Fool's Day joke by pupils at the school. The headmaster received four telephone calls as a result of the prank. The school moved to a new site, and the school buildings were demolished. In August 1996, it was announced that the London Borough of Croydon was to receive a grant of £218,100 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to turn the mill into a museum. In September 2004, Croydon Borough Council agreed to fund external repairs to the windmill, the work being scheduled for the following spring.