De Sweachmermolen is a smock mill

Smock mill

The smock mill is a type of windmill that consists of a sloping, horizontally weatherboarded tower, usually with six or eight sides. It is topped with a roof or cap that rotates to bring the sails into the wind...

 between Langweer

Langweer

Langweer is a small Dutch town in Friesland in the municipality Scharsterland. The town was established in 1256, and has a population of 964 ....

 and Boornzwaag

Boornzwaag

Boornzwaag is a small village in Skarsterlân in the province Friesland of the Netherlands and has around 190 citizens . It is located east of Langweer on the south east shore of the lake called Langweerder Wielen...

, 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 was built in 1782. The mill has two functions: it is a drainage mill and a corn mill. It has been restored to working order as a drainage mill and 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 13241.

History

De Sweachmermolen was built in 1782 as a corn mill for Frans Julius Johan van Eijsinga. It was later converted so that it could also drain the Grote Polder Langweer, Dijken en Boornzwaag. The mill previously had four patent sails. On 12 August 1925, an electric motor was installed in the mill to drive the Archimedes screw. The mill then became derelict. Through T.A.J. van Eijsinga, an influential member of De Hollandsche Molen (Dutch Mills Society), the mill was acquired in 1949 by Stichting tot instandhouding van de Langweerder molen . De Sweachmermolen is now used as a holiday home, the base and lowest storey of the smock having been converted. Income from letting the mill is put towards its upkeep. In 1998, the mill was restored so that it could again pump water. It is not planned to restore the milling machinery. De Sweachmermolen is listed as being held in reserve for use in times of emergency. It is the only combined corn and drainage windmill in Friesland.

Description

De Sweachmermolen is what the Dutch describe as a Stellingmolen. It is a three storey smock mill on a two storey base. The stage is at second floor level, 5.7 metre above ground level. The mill is winded by tailpole and winch. The smock and cap are thatched. The sails are common sails. They have a span of 22.4 metre. The sails are carried on a cast iron windshaft which was cast by Gietijzer Pletterij Enthoven en Companië, 's Gravenhage, in 1896. The windshaft also carries the brake wheel, which has 58 cogs. This drives the wallower (32 cogs) at the top of the upright shaft. The great spur wheel, which has 90 cogs, drove a pair of millstones via a lantern pinion stone nut with 25 staves. At the bottom of the upright shaft the crown wheel, which has 35 cogs, drives a gearwheel with 43 cogs on the axle of the Archimedes screw.