De Ropta is a smock mill north of

Metslawier Metslawier ( fry, Mitselwier) is a village in Noardeast-Fryslân in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 908 in January 2017. Before 2019, the village was part of the Dongeradeel municipality. The De Ropta win ...

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 was built in 1840 and is in 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 ...

History

A mill was built by Romke van der Werf of Betterwird in 1836, but it was blown down in 1840. It was rebuilt on a 20 Dutch feet (approximately ) high brick base. The mill was struck by

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...

in 1889, but no serious damage was caused. The mill ceased working commercially in 1961. It was sold to the municipality of

Dongeradeel Dongeradeel (; fy, Dongeradiel ) is a former municipality in the northern Netherlands. In 2019 it merged with the municipalities of Ferwerderadiel and Kollumerland en Nieuwkruisland to form the new municipality Noardeast-Fryslân. History Donge ...

in 1962. It carried

Patent sails Windmills are powered by their sails. Sails are found in different designs, from primitive common sails to the advanced patent sails. Jib sails The jib sail is found in Mediterranean countries and consists of a simple triangle of cloth wound rou ...

until 1966, when they were replaced by

Common sails Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

. The mill was restored in 1966, 1971, and 1996. The mill is one of the most complete corn and pearl barley mills in Friesland. It is listed as a

, number 31577.

Description

''De Ropta'' is what the Dutch describe as a "stellingmolen". It is a smock mill on a two-storey base, there is a stage at second-floor level, above ground level. The smock and cap are

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 mill is winded by tailpole and winch. The sails are

. They have a span of . The stocks are of interest in that one pair is of rivetted construction, made by the Gorter shipyard of

Hoogezand Hoogezand is a town in the municipality of Midden-Groningen, in the province of Groningen in northeast Netherlands. History The name refers to a higher sanded ''(Hooge Sandt)'' place in the peatlands cut through when the Winschoterdiep channe ...

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 ...

. The other stock, of welded construction, is claimed to be the first made by the

millwright A millwright is a craftsperson or skilled tradesperson who installs, dismantles, maintains, repairs, reassembles, and moves machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites. The term ''millwright'' (also known as ''industrial mecha ...

Christiaan Bremer of

Adorp Adorp () is a village in the municipality of Het Hogeland, Netherlands. It is located about 6 km north of Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the ...

, Groningen. The sails are carried on a cast-iron ''windshaft'', which was cast in 1891 by De 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 ...

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

. The ''windshaft'' also carries the ''brake wheel'', which has 61 cogs. This drives the ''wallower'' (32 cogs) at the top of the ''upright shaft''. At the bottom of the ''upright shaft'', the ''great spur wheel'', which has 95 cogs. The ''great spur wheel'' drives two pairs of millstones via a ''lantern pinion stone nut'' which have 24 staves each. The millstones are and diameter, although one of the former is broken. The mill also drives two pairs of diameter millstones which are used for milling

pearl barley Pearl barley, or pearled barley, is barley that has been processed to remove its fibrous outer hull and polished to remove some or all of the bran layer. It is the most common form of barley for human consumption because it cooks faster and i ...

. These are driven by ''lantern pinion wallowers'' which have 20 staves each.

Public access

''De Ropta'' is open to the public by appointment.

Interior

File:Interieur achtkante stellingmolen - AMR Molenfoto - 20538780 - RCE.jpg File:Interieur achtkante stellingmolen - AMR Molenfoto - 20538781 - RCE.jpg File:Interieur achtkante stellingmolen - AMR Molenfoto - 20538782 - RCE.jpg

References

{{Dutch Windmills Windmills in Friesland Windmills completed in 1840 Smock mills in the Netherlands Grinding mills in the Netherlands Agricultural buildings in the Netherlands Rijksmonuments in Friesland Octagonal buildings in the Netherlands