De Achlumer Molen is a

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

in Achlum,

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

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

Rijksmonument A (, ) is a national heritage site of the Netherlands, listed by the agency Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (RCE) acting for the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. At the end of February 2015, the Netherlands had 61,822 l ...

, number 15821.

History

De Achlumer Molen was built in 1851 to drain the Achlumer Noorderpolder. It worked by wind until 1954 when the cap and sails were removed and the smock tower fitted with a

thatch Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, Phragmites, water reed, Cyperaceae, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), Juncus, rushes, Calluna, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away fr ...

ed conical roof. After that, an

electric motor An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...

drove the Archimedes' screw. In 1981, the mill was bought by

Stichting De Fryske Mole The Stichting De Fryske Mole (; ; ) is a foundation for the preservation of windmills in the Dutch province Friesland, owning 42 of the 124 windmills in Friesland and closely co-operating with the Gild Fryske Mounders with which it publishes a q ...

(English: ''The Frisian Mills Foundation''). The previous owner, Haye Thomas, a Dutch TV journalist, sold the mill for ƒ1. In September 2006 it was decided to restore the mill. The work was undertaken in the summer of 2007. (Click on ''Geschiedenis'' to view.) On 18 October 2007 the new cap and sails were fitted to the mill. The restoration was carried out by Bouwbedrijf Hiemsta of

Arum ''Arum'' is a genus of plants in the Araceae family; they are native to Europe, northern Africa, and western and central Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region. Frequently called arum lilies, they are not closely ...

Description

De Achlumer Molen is what the Dutch describe as an ''achtkante grondzeiler'' – a smock mill whose sails reach almost to the ground. It is a three-storey smock mill on a single-storey base. The smock and cap are thatched. The mill is winded by a tailpole and winch. The sails are one pair of Common sails and one pair of Patent sails. The Common sails are carried on the inner stock. They have a span of ; the Patent sails are carried on the outer stock. They have a span of . They are carried on a cast-iron ''windshaft'' which was cast by Koning in 1909. It is long. The ''Brake wheel'' has 51 cogs. It drives the ''wallower'' (27 cogs) at the top of the ''upright shaft''. At the lower end of the ''upright shaft'', the ''crown wheel'' (42 cogs) drives the Archimedes' screw via a gearwheel with 39 cogs. (Click on "Technische Gegevens" to view.) The

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

screw is diameter and long, its axle is diameter. It is inclined at 22½°. Each revolution of the screw lifts of water.

Public access

Achlumer Molen is open to the public on the Dutch National Mills Day and also on the Frisian Mills Day.

References

External links

Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Achlumer Molen Windmills in Friesland Windmills completed in 1851 Smock mills in the Netherlands Rijksmonuments in Friesland Octagonal buildings in the Netherlands 1851 establishments in the Netherlands 19th-century architecture in the Netherlands