De Grote Molen, Broeksterwoude
Encyclopedia
De Grote Molen is a smock mill in Broeksterwoude
Broeksterwoude
Broeksterwâld is a village in the Dantumadiel municipality of Friesland, in the Netherlands and has around the 1267 citizens ....

, 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 11679.

History

In 1880 a windmill was built on this site 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...

 Oege Plantinga of Wanswerd. This mill was burnt down in 1887. De Grote Molen was built to replace it by millwright Gerben van Wieren of Janum. It was originally built with two Archimedes screws. The mill was at one time equipped with Patent sails. In 1934, one of the Archimedes screws was transferred to the Kleine Molen. The spurwheel needed to drive the second screw was removed around 1986 and later reused in gristmill De Vlijt
De Vlijt, Koudum
De Vlijt or Molen 't Op is a post mill in Koudum, Friesland, Netherlands which was built in 1986 and is working in working order. The mill is listed as a Rijksmonument, number 34081.-History:...

. A centrifugal pump was installed in 1943 and the mill ceased to work. The mill was restored in 1959 and again in 1975, at which time the patent system sails were replaced by commons sails. In 1977 it was sold to Stichting De Fryske Mole (English: Frisian Mills Society). A further restoration was undertaken in 1994. In 2010 and 2011 major restoration work was done. Amongst others it was decided to repair the riveted stocks dating from 1902 in stead of replacing them with new welded steel stocks and to refit the patent system which had been removed in 1975.

Description

De Grote Molen is what the Dutch describe as an "achtkante grondzeiler". It is a smock mill winded by a winch. There is no stage, the sails reaching almost to the ground. The mill has a single storey brick base and a two storey smock. The smock and cap are thatched. The four Patent sails have a span of 22.54 metre and are carried in a cast iron windshaft, which was cast by Prins van Oranje, Den Haag in 1879. The windshaft also carries the clasp arm brake wheel, which has 66 cogs. This drives the wallower (35 cogs) at the top of the upright shaft. At the bottom of the upright shaft, the crown wheel (48 cogs) drives the wooden Archimedes screw via a gear wheel with 42 cogs. The Archimedes screw has an axle diameter of 438 millimetre and is 1.5 metre diameter overall. It is inclined at an angle of 15°. Each revolution of the screw lifts 543 litres (119.4 imp gal) of water.

External links

Mill working with refitted Patent sails (youtube movie)
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