De Bird is a Hollow Post mill in

Grou Grou () is a town in the province Friesland of the Netherlands and had around 5655 citizens in January 2017. Since 2014 Grou is part of the municipality of Leeuwarden. The town is located on the lake and the Prinses Margriet Canal. Heineken op ...

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

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which was built in the 18th century. The mill is also known as De Burd and Koopmans Molen. Although not in full working order, it can turn in the wind. It is listed as a

Rijksmonument A (, ) 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 had 61,822 l ...

, number 22915. (Click on "Technische gegevens" to view.)

History

Although a mill has stood on this site since 1640, ''De Bird'' was built in the 18th century. It was built to drain the De Burd polder, which was part of the Groot Jetsma farm. ''De Bird'' was built for A J de Jong. A later owner was Simon Koopmans, giving the mill its alternate name of ''Koopmans Molen''. In 1878, the mill was sold at

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for ƒ500. (Click on "Geschiedenis" to view.) Restorations of the mill were undertaken in 1950, 1960 and 1964. In November 1972, the mill was damaged in a storm. It was during the subsequent repair work that the roundhouse roof was tiled with pantiles. A further restoration was undertaken in 2004, during which the roundhouse roof was boarded, as it had been previously. The mill is not complete, as the Archimedes' screw is missing, although it can turn by wind. The mill was officially reopened on 18 November 2005. Previously in the ownership of the Gemeente

Boarnsterhim Boarnsterhim (; ) was a municipality in the northern Netherlands. On 1 January 2014, the municipality was dissolved and its territory was split between four other municipalities: De Friese Meren, which was established that day, Leeuwarden, Heeren ...

, ''De Bird'' is now owned by Stichting Poldermolens De Lege Midden (). (Click on "Algemeen" to view.)

Description

''De Bird'' is what the Dutch describe as an ''spinnenkop''. It is a hollow post mill on a single storey square roundhouse. The mill is winded by tailpole and winch. The roundhouse and mill body are covered in vertical boards, while the roof of the mill is boarded horizontally. The sails are Common sails. They have a span of . The sails are carried on a wooden ''windshaft''. The ''windshaft'' also carries the ''brake wheel'' which has 43 cogs. This drives the ''wallower'' (21 cogs) at the top of the ''upright shaft''. At the bottom of the ''upright shaft'', the ''crown wheel'', which has 34 cogs formerly drove an Archimedes' screw, which is now missing. The axle of the Archimedes' screw was diameter and the screw was inclined at 21½°.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bird Commercial buildings completed in the 18th century Windmills completed in 2007 Windmills in Friesland Hollow post mills in the Netherlands Windpumps in the Netherlands Rijksmonuments in Friesland