De Kleine Molen () is a smock mill in

Stiens Stiens is a town in the municipality of Leeuwarden, Netherlands. As of January 2017, the town had a population of about 7,545. Between 1944 and 2018, it was the capital of the municipality of Leeuwarderadeel. History The village was first mention ...

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 ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

which was built in 1913 and moved in 1988. The mill is the smallest of its type in the Netherlands. In working order, 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 ...

History

''De Kleine Molen'' was originally built in 1913, it is also known as ''Binnemas Molen''. It was restored in 1968. It was sold to

Stichting De Fryske Mole The Stichting De Fryske Mole (; ; ) is a foundation for the preservation of windmills in the Dutch province Friesland, owning 42 of the 124 windmills in Friesland and closely co-operating with the Gild Fryske Mounders with which it publishes a q ...

on 1 March 1987, the 40th mill bought by that organisation. The mill was moved in 1988 by

millwright A millwright is a craftsman or skilled tradesman who installs, dismantles, maintains, repairs, reassembles, and moves machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites. The term ''millwright'' (also known as ''industrial mechanic'') ...

Tacoma of Stiens. The smallest mill of its type in the Netherlands, it is listed as a Rijksmonument, No. 24546.

Description

''De Kleine Molen'' is what the Dutch describe as a ''Grondzeiler''. It is a single storey smock mill on a low base. There is no stage, the sails reaching almost to ground level. The mill is winded by tailpole and winch. The smock and cap are

thatch Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, Phragmites, water reed, Cyperaceae, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), Juncus, rushes, Calluna, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away fr ...

ed. The sails are

Common sails Windmills are powered by their sails. Sails are found in different forms, from primitive common sails to the advanced patent sails. Jib sails The jib sail is found in Mediterranean countries and consists of a simple triangle of cloth wound r ...

They have a span of . The sails are carried on a

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

''windshaft'', which was cast by the Gietijzerij Hardinxveld-Giessendam in 1986. The ''windshaft'' carries the ''brake wheel'' which has 27 cogs. This drives the ''wallower'' (15 cogs) at the top of the ''upright shaft''. At the bottom of the ''upright shaft'' a ''crown wheel'' with 25 cogs drives a shaft via a ''pinion'' with 15 cogs. At the other end of this shaft a ''wallower'' with 40 teeth drives a

centrifugal pump Centrifugal pumps are used to transport fluids by the Energy transformation, conversion of rotational kinetic energy to the hydrodynamic energy of the fluid flow. The rotational energy typically comes from an engine or electric motor. They are ...

via a gearwheel with 20 teeth. The pump can also be driven by electricity.

Public access

''De Kleine Molen'' is open to the public by appointment.

References

{{Dutch Windmills Windmills in Friesland Windmills completed in 1857 Smock mills in the Netherlands Windpumps in the Netherlands Agricultural buildings in the Netherlands Rijksmonuments in Friesland Octagonal buildings in the Netherlands 1857 establishments in the Netherlands 19th-century architecture in the Netherlands