In 1450, Leone Battista Alberti developed a swinging plate anemometer, and was known as the first anemometer .

An anemometer measures the wind speed and the direction the wind is blowing from at the site where it is mounted.

Small turbines are pointed by a simple wind vane, while large turbines generally use a wind sensor coupled with a servo motor.

Small units often have direct drive generators, direct current output, aeroelastic blades, lifetime bearings and use a vane to point into the wind.

The house and its contents reflect the history of the Vane Tempest Stewart family, who played a leading role in British and Irish social and political life.