De Zwaluw (English: '' The Swallow'') is a smock mill in

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 is working commercially. 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 15585. (Click on "Technische gegevens" to view.)

History

The first mill on this site was a smock mill called ''De Windlust'' (English: ''The desire for wind'') which was built for Douwe Dirks Drukker of Burum in 1841. (Click on "History" to view.) This was a corn mill which stood west of the present mill. Drukker sold the mill on 25 April 1851 to Klaas Freerks Steenhuizen for ƒ6,000. ''De Windlust'' was burnt down on 15 September 1874.Click on Burdaard/ Birdaard, De Windlust (verdwenen)
under Interne Verwijzing(en) ''De Zwaluw'' was built as a corn and pearl barley mill to replace it. 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 ...

was G R van Wieren of Smitshuis. ''De Zwaluw'' was built for Klaas Steenhuizen. Between 1875 and 1878, the base of a

paltrok mill The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single vertical post, around which it can be turned to bring the sails into the wind. All p ...

was placed alongside ''De Zwaluw'' and driven by the mill. Steenhuizen had four sons, two of which worked the mill. Paulus worked in the pearl barley mill and Jan worked the sawmill. ''De Zwaluw'' was built with Patent sails, one of the first mills in the north of the Netherlands so equipped. After the death of his father, Paulus Steenhuizen moved into the mill house with his wife Berber Bosma. They had two daughters, Janke and Reinje. Janke helped her father in the mill. She married Anne Hessel de Groot, who took over the mill after the death of Paulus Steenhuizen on 26 March 1936. In 1954, the mill lost a pair of sails. It worked by wind in this condition until 1960. The mill was worked in its latter years by Anne Hessel de Groot and Tjebbe Overzet until the death of Anne Hessel de Groot on 8 April 1966. The mill was listed as a Rijksmonument in 1971. On 11 November 1972, 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 ...

and burnt down, leaving the base and saw mill standing. Tjebbe Overzet died in 1974. The mill is now in the ownership of the Gemeente Ferwerderadiel. Restoration by Fabrikaat Buurma of

Oudeschans Oudeschans () is a small village with a population of around 100 in the municipality of Westerwolde in the province of Groningen in the Netherlands. The 16th-century fortification is now a state protected village area with several national heri ...

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 ...

was started in 1984 and completed in 1987. When first restored, the mill had two Common sails and two Patent sails, but it now carries four Patent sails. When the mill was first restored it was only as a landmark. Much of the equipment for milling was missing. Miller Jan Tollenaar finally got ''De Zwaluw'' restored as a working windmill in October 1988. At first, trade was rather slow, but this improved after ''De Hoop'', Stiens burnt down. Former customers of ''De Hoop'' then came to ''De Zwaluw''. When ''De Hoop'' was rebuilt, trade there was slow because it had lost its market. The business at ''De Zwaluw'' has expanded to include a campsite and moorings. The mill lies alongside the Dokkummer Ee, and is passed by participants in the Elfstedentocht. (Click on "Geschiedenis" to view.) The mill is grinding on a daily basis, with the sawmill at work on Saturdays.

Description

''De Zwaluw'' is what the Dutch describe as an "achtkante stellingmolen". It is a smock mill with a stage. The brick base is five storeys with the stage at fourth-floor level, above ground level. The two-storey smock is thatched as is the cap, which is winded by a tailpole and winch. The four Patent sails, which have a span of , are carried in a cast-iron ''windshaft'' which was cast by Ijzergieterij Versteeg-Ensink of

Hardinxveld-Giessendam Hardinxveld-Giessendam () is a municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It is located about 10 km east of Dordrecht, on the river Beneden-Merwede. The municipality had a population of in and covers an area ...

in 1985. This was the first ''windshaft'' cast by Versteeg-Ensink. The ''windshaft'' also carries the ''brake wheel'' which has 70 cogs. This drives the conical lantern pinion ''wallower'' (38 staves) at the top of the ''upright shaft''. At the bottom of the ''upright shaft'', the ''great spur wheel'' drives four pairs of

millstone Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, for grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a convex stationary base known as the ''bedstone'' and ...

s. Two pairs are used for making flour and two pairs are used to produce pearl barley. The flour stones are each driven by a ''stone nut'' with 30 staves and the pearl barley stones are each driven by a ''stone nut'' with 20 staves. A lantern pinion with 35 staves drives carries the drive to the saw via a shaft. At the opposite end of this shaft, a gear with 35 cogs drives a ''wallower'' with 44 cogs. This drives a gear with 26 cogs which drives another gear with 51 cogs on the axle of the frame saw.

Millers

;De Windlust *Douwe Durks Drukker 1841-51 *Klaas Freerks Steenhuizen 1851-74 ;De Zwaluw *Klaas Freerks Steenhuizen 1874- *Paulus Steenhuizen -1936 *Jan Steenhuizen *Janke Steenhuizen *Anne Hessel de Groot -1966 *Tjebbe Overzet -1966 *Jan Tollenaar 1988 to date References for above:- (Mouseover "The mill" then click on "The miller" to view.)

Public access

The mill is open to the public 1 May to 1 October, Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 to 12:00 and 13:30 - 1700, and at other times by appointment. Click on "Information" to view.

References

External links

Mill websiteMiller's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zwaluw, Burdaard Windmills in Friesland Windmills completed in 1987 Smock mills in the Netherlands Rijksmonuments in Friesland Octagonal buildings in the Netherlands