De Gans is a smock mill in Ezumazijl, Friesland

Friesland

Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...

, Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 which has been restored to working order. The mill is listed as a Rijksmonument

Rijksmonument

A rijksmonument is a National Heritage Site of the Netherlands, listed by the agency Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed acting for the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.-History and criteria:...

, number 31571.

History

De Gans was built in 1850 by farmer Martinus Aukes Wierda who owned the Guozzepôle farm. The mill drained the Ganzenpolder. It drained 28 hectares (69.2 acre) of land, depositing the drainage water into the Zuider Ee.

By 1962, it was uneconomic to work the mill and it was replaced by an electric motor. It had been sold to the local authority by 1965. In 1970, the mill was restored by millwright

Millwright

A millwright is a craftsman or tradesman engaged with the construction and maintenance of machinery.Early millwrights were specialist carpenters who erected machines used in agriculture, food processing and processing lumber and paper...

 De Roos of Leeuwarden. During this restoration the Patent sails were replaced with Common sails. The mill retained its wooden windshaft after this restoration. In 1988, the mill was again restored, this time by Thijs Jellema of Birdaard. A new cast iron windshaft was fitted. The old wooden windshaft is preserved in De Zwaluw, Birdaard. De Gans is the sole survivor of six windmills which formerly drained the Ganzenpolder.

Description

De Gans is what the Dutch describe as an achtkante grondzeiler - a smock mill whose sails reach almost to the ground. It is a two storey smock mill on a single storey base. The mill is winded by tailpole and winch. The smock is covered in vertical wooden boards. The sails are Common sails. They have a span of 10.6 metre. The sails are carried on a cast iron windshaft. The windshaft also carries the brake wheel which has 32 cogs. This drives the wallower (18 cogs) at the top of the upright shaft. At the bottom of the upright shaft, the crown wheel, which has 28 cogs drives a gearwheel with 26 cogs on the axle of the Archimedes screw. The axle of the screw is 210 millimetres (2¼ inches) diameter and the screw is 710 millimetre diameter and 4 metre long. The screw is inclined at 24°. Each revolution of the screw lifts 83.8 litres (18.4 imp gal) of water.