Brocarde saves North Leigh windmill in Oxfordshire

Alayna Salter, who goes by the stage name Brocarde, has obtained listed building consent for essential repair works at North Leigh windmill.

The singer, who released an EP on Friday, is now considering turning the windmill into a recording studio with a luxury entertainment complex, featuring accommodation.

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She said: “I am delighted to have the chance to own such an iconic landmark. It is not only an historic building but it’s much loved by the community and a significant monument in Oxfordshire.

“I have so many ideas for the windmill but the priority is to get the essential repair works done, this will ensure the windmill is protected whilst future plans are made.

“I decided to buy the North Leigh windmill as it has been a family legacy of mine for years.

“I grew up with the tower in the background and I used to play in the field surrounding it, I was always aware of how special it was to have a windmill in the family.

“It was in the 1920s when my great grandfather purchased North Leigh windmill. He was always a proud windmill owner and thrived at having a business and monument that was in the heart of the community.

“My great grandfather was a man with exceptional drive and ambition. Although he passed away when I was a small child, his legacy and his heritage have always been a part of who I am.

“I want to ensure the windmill stays at the very heart of the local landscape.”

Work will be carried out as soon as possible over the coming months at the windmill, which features on the badge of the village’s football team and gives them their nickname the Millers.

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The windmill is one of only three surviving tower windmills in the county.

Brocarde’s EP, Love me ‘Til I’m Beautiful, features her song World Upside Down, while her music has previously been described as genre-less.

She said: “When I first starting writing music people used to ask ‘who do you sound like?’ and I could never answer.

“I’m not influenced by outside noise and outside forces, so when you hear my voice you are hearing me and not a manifestation of multiple people’s fantasies.

“To a point, I’m not interested in what others are doing and what has been done before, it’s about forging a movement that defies a formula, I have no boundaries.

“I really don’t put any rules in place about what’s creatively acceptable. If I love it, I do it and don’t question it.

“I am a creative storyteller and consumed with the power of words. I’m obsessed with lyrics and capturing a feeling or a moment in time.

“I love using different musical elements to create something that’s cinematic and voyages through dark and light passages.”

Brocarde says her EP is a ‘an insight into the dramatic depths of my own mind, orchestrated by passion, overwhelming emotion and intimate intensity’.

The EP features Korn drummer Ray Luzier, who said Brocarde has a ‘very unique vocal style’.