De Wieker Meule 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 typ ...

De Wijk De Wijk is a village in the Netherlands province of Drenthe. It is located in the municipality of De Wolden, and is about 7 km southeast of Meppel. It is home to Rijksmonument A rijksmonument (, ) is a national heritage site of the Netherl ...

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 1829 and 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 39657. (Click on "Technische gegevens" to view)

History

De Wieker Meule was originally built in 1764 in De Leijen. In 1829, the mill was bought by Jacob Schiphorst Haalweide and moved to De Wijk. An extension was built against the base of the mill which housed two pairs of millstones driven by a

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-cal ...

and later an

electric motor An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a wire winding to generate f ...

. These were in addition to the two pairs of stones driven by the windmill. In 1926, the mill was bought by the Coöperative Landbouwbank. The ground floor was used at that time as a

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

. In 1939, the sails of the mill were streamlined using the Dekker system. The mill cease to be used commercially in 1962. Restoration of the mill started in 1978, (Click on "Geschiedenis" to view) and was completed in 1980, with a new cap and sails. The Dekkerised sails were replaced with traditional Common sails. The ''Vereniging voor Vreemdelingenverkeer'' established an office in the base of the mill. In 1996, the mill was bought by the Stichting Wieker Meule (English: ''Wieker Mill Society'').

Description

De Wieker Meule what the Dutch describe as an "achtkante stellingmolen" - a smock mill with a stage. It is a three-storey smock mill on a two-storey base. The stage is at third-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 cap is winded by a tailpole and winch. The four Common sails, which span , are carried on a cast-iron ''windshaft'', which was cast 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 ...

Enthoven in 1863. The ''windshaft'' carries a clasp arm ''brake wheel'', which has 59 cogs. This drives the ''wallower'' (29 cogs) at the top of the ''upright shaft''. At the bottom of the ''upright shaft'' the ''great spur wheel'' (105 cogs) drives two lantern pinion ''stone nuts'', one having 34 staves and the other having 36 staves. These drive the two pairs of diameter French Burr millstones.

Public access

De Wieker Meule is open to the public from 13:00 to 18:00 on Saturdays. (Click on "Informatie" to view)

References

External links

Website of the mill
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wieker Meule, De Wijk Windmills in Drenthe Smock mills in the Netherlands Windmills completed in 1829 Rijksmonuments in Drenthe Octagonal buildings in the Netherlands De Wieker Meule, De Wijk