De Olifant (; English: '' The Elephant'') 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 type ...

Burdaard Burdaard is a village in Noardeast-Fryslân in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 1,173 in January 2017. Before 2019, the village was part of the Ferwerderadiel municipality. It is situated south of Jislum, ...

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

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

Rijksmonument A rijksmonument (, ) 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 ...

, number 35673. (Click on "Technische gegevens" to view.)

History

''De Olifant'' was originally built at Oostwold,

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

in 1856 where it drained the Oosterwolderpolder. In 1867 it was moved to Burdaard where it drained the Olifantpolder. The cost of purchase and re-erection was ƒ2,000. The mill worked until 1970 when it was taken out of use. (Click on "Geschiedenis" to view.) The mill was sold to

Stichting De Fryske Mole The Stichting De Fryske Mole ( en, Frisian Mills Foundation) 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 ...

on 20 June 1977. Restoration was carried out in 1978-79 and again in 1991.

Description

''De Olifant'' 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 has vertical weatherboarding and the cap is

thatch Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

ed. The four Common sails have a span of and are carried in a cast-iron ''windshaft'' which was made by Prins van Oranje of

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

in 1877. The ''windshaft'' also carries the ''brake wheel'', which has 65 cogs. This drives the ''wallower'' (37 cogs) at the top of the ''upright shaft''. At the bottom of the ''upright shaft'', the ''great spur wheel'' (71 cogs) drives three wooden shafts, each of which drives a wooden Archimedes' screw via another set of gears. Two of the Archimedes' screws drain the "Olifant polder", while the third pumps water into the

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains s ...

. The drive to the larger of the two Archimedes' screws that drain the polder is from a 38-cog gear wheel meshing with the ''great spur wheel''. This drives a 35-cog gear wheel which drives the Archimedes' screw via a 46-cog gear wheel on the axle of the Archimedes' screw. This Archimedes' screw has an axle diameter of and is diameter overall. It is inclined at an angle of 17½°. Each revolution of the screw lifts of water. The drive to the smaller of the two Archimedes' screws that drain the polder is from a 36 cog gear wheel meshing with the ''great spur wheel''. This drives a 33-cog gear wheel which drives the Archimedes' screw via a 41-cog gear wheel on the axle of the Archimedes' screw. This Archimedes' screw has an axle diameter of and is diameter overall. It is inclined at an angle of 121°. Each revolution of the screw lifts of water. The drive to the Archimedes' screw that pumps water into the polder is from a 38-cog gear wheel meshing with the ''great spur wheel''. This drives a 25 stave gear wheel which drives a ''wallower'' (30 cogs). The ''wallower'' drives a gear wheel with 31 cogs. This drives a cast-iron gear wheel with 48 teeth. This drives the Archimedes' screw via a cast-iron gear wheel with 60 cogs on the axle of the Archimedes' screw. This Archimedes' screw has an axle diameter of and is diameter overall. It is inclined at an angle of 16°. Each revolution of the screw lifts of water.

Public access

''De Olifant'' is open to the public by appointment. (Click on ''Informatie'' to view.)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olifant Windmills in Friesland Windmills completed in 1867 Smock mills in the Netherlands Rijksmonuments in Friesland Octagonal buildings in the Netherlands