Nooitgedacht ( en, Would never have thought it) 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 ...

Veenoord Veenoord is a village in the Netherlands and it is part of the Emmen municipality in Drenthe. It forms a single urban area with Nieuw-Amsterdam. Vincent van Gogh stayed in the Scholte Inn during his Drenthe period. History Veenoord translates ...

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Nov ...

, in the

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 was built (in its current location) in 1916 and 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 33786.

History

In 1862, a corn and

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

mill was moved from

Vlagtwedde Vlagtwedde () is a village in the very southeast of Groningen province in the northeastern Netherlands. It lies on the Dutch border with the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. History The municipality of Vlagtwedde was created in Decemb ...

and rebuilt close to the site of the present mill for miller Johannes van Aalst. This mill burnt down in 1904. To replace it, an oil mill was moved from

Mensingeweer Mensingeweer is a small village in the Netherlands; it is located in the municipality of Het Hogeland, Groningen. It lies on the provincial road from Winsum to Leens at the crossroads to Eenrum. The long-distance footpath called '' Pieterpad' ...

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 ...

Van Ausselt. This 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 in 1916. Van Ausselt and millwright Huberts, from

Coevorden Coevorden (; nds-nl, Koevern) is a city and municipality in the province of Drenthe, Netherlands. During the 1998 municipal reorganisation in the province, Coevorden merged with Dalen, Sleen, Oosterhesselen and Zweeloo, retaining its name. In Augu ...

, moved a mill from Hankate,

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 ...

, to replace it. (Click on "Geschiedenis" to view.) This was the third move for that mill, which was originally built in 1732 as a barley mill at

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of the ...

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 ...

. By 1749 it was also an oil mill. It was moved between 1786 and 1805 to

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, fry, It Hearrenfean ) is a town and municipality in the province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the municipality had a population 50,859 (1 July). ...

, Friesland, where it was known as ''Het Fortuin'' (English: ''

The Fortune ''The Fortune'' is a 1975 American black comedy film starring Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty, and directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Adrien Joyce focuses on two bumbling con men who plot to steal the fortune of a wealthy young heir ...

''). In 1892 it was moved to Hankate, where the mill was known as the ''Molen van Kappert''. The mill was worked until at least 1952, when it was sold to the Instituut voor de Landbouw. In 1973 it was transferred to

De Hollandsche Molen Vereniging De Hollandsche Molen () ( en, Dutch Windmill Association) is a Dutch organization founded in 1923 to preserve windmills in the Netherlands, to document them, and to restore them. Financial support comes from members and from grants by o ...

and later still to Stichting Drentse Molens (English: ''Drenthe Mills Society'').

Description

''Nooitgedacht'' is what the Dutch describe as an "achtkante stellingmolen". It is a two-storey smock mill with a stage on a three-storey brick base. The stage is 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 a tailpole and winch. The four Common sails have a span of and are carried in a cast-iron ''windshaft'' which was cast by Enthuizen in 1872. The ''windshaft'' also carries the ''brake wheel'' which has 73 cogs. This drives the ''wallower'' (48 cogs) at the top of the ''upright shaft''. At the bottom of the ''upright shaft'', the ''great spur wheel'', which has 92 cogs, drives the diameter French Burr stones via a ''lantern pinion stone nut'' with 20 staves. (Click on "Technische gegevens" to view.)

Millers

*Johannes van Aalst (1916– ) *B H van Aalst (1940–52) Reference for above:

Public access

''Nooitgedacht'' is open to the public on Saturdays and when the mill is turning.

References

External links

Website Nooitgedacht
{{Dutch Windmills Windmills in Drenthe Windmills completed in 1916 Smock mills in the Netherlands Octagonal buildings in the Netherlands Rijksmonuments in Drenthe Buildings and structures in Emmen, Netherlands