Brill Common

Brill Common sits on a hilltop in the far west of Buckinghamshire, crowned by a beautifully preserved seventeenth-century post mill that is one of the oldest working windmills in the country. The common is open-access grassland dotted with the humps and hollows of old clay diggings, and from its edge the land falls away to reveal enormous views across the Oxfordshire plain toward the Chilterns and beyond. The windmill is a wonderful aerial subject, and the wide, uncluttered common gives plenty of room to take off and land away from people. It is a genuinely relaxed spot: rarely crowded, with informal roadside and common-edge parking and easy level access to the flying area. Take the usual care around the windmill if events are on, keep clear of the few houses bordering the green, and mind the uneven ground underfoot. On airspace, Brill is comfortably clear of controlled airspace, with Oxford (Kidlington) airport roughly eighteen kilometres to the west and no flight restriction zone nearby. The hilltop is exposed, which is why the mill is there, so expect a steady breeze; a calm, bright morning gives the best combination of light on the mill and stable air for flying over the common.