Jan Pol 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 ...

Dalen Dalen (Dutch Low Saxon: ''Daoln'') is a village and a former municipality in the northeastern Netherlands, in the province of Drenthe. Since 1998, Dalen has been part of the municipality of Coevorden. The village was first mentioned in the 12th ...

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 ...

. It was built in 1876. The mill is 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 44562. (Click on "Technische gegevens" to view)

History

Jan Pol was built in 1876, replacing a mill that had been built in 1820 and burnt down following a

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 ...

strike in 1875. It was built by

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 ...

Schiller from

Dalfsen Dalfsen (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and a town in the Salland region of the Dutch province of Overijssel. The municipality of Dalfsen was increased to its current size on 1 January 2001 through the amalgamation of the municipalities of ...

Overijssel Overijssel (, ; nds, Oaveriessel ; german: Oberyssel) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name translates to "across the IJssel", from the perspective of the ...

. In operation until 1947, it was stripped of machinery in 1958. Restoration by millwright Huberts of Coevorden began in 1971 and was completed in 1972. Further restoration was undertaken in 1993 (Click on "Geschiedenis" to view) by millwrights Doornbosch of

Adorp Adorp () is a village in the municipality of Het Hogeland, Netherlands. It is located about 6 km north of Groningen. Until 1990, Adorp was a separate municipality, however the seat was in Sauwerd Sauwerd is a village in the municipality o ...

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 mill is named for Jan Pol, who owned it from 1942 until his death in 1982. It is the tallest windmill standing today in Drenthe.

Description

Jan Pol is what the Dutch describe as an "achtkante stellingmolen", a smock mill with a stage. The mill has a three-storey brick base with a three-storey smock. The height of the stage is 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 four ''Common sails'' span . They are carried on a cast-iron ''windshaft'' which was made by the millwrights 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 1866. The ''windshaft'' carries the ''brake wheel'', which has 61 cogs. It drives the ''wallower'' at the top of the ''upright shaft''. The ''wallower'' has 34 cogs. At the bottom of the ''upright shaft'', the ''great spur wheel'' with 115 cogs drives two lantern pinion stone nuts, one with 37 staves and one with 38 staves. The pearl barley stones are driven by a stone nut with 28 cogs.

Public access

Jan Pol is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 1 April to 1 November between 13:30 and 16:30. It is also open throughout the year by appointment. (Click on "Informatie" to view)

References

External links

Website of the mill
{{Dutch Windmills Coevorden Windmills in Drenthe Smock mills in the Netherlands Windmills completed in 1876 Grinding mills in the Netherlands Rijksmonuments in Drenthe Octagonal buildings in the Netherlands