De Ropta is a smock mill north of Metslawier,

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 1840 and is in working order. The mill 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

A mill was built by Romke van der Werf of Betterwird in 1836, but it was blown down in 1840. It was rebuilt on a 20 Dutch feet (approximately ) high brick base. The mill was struck by

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

in 1889, but no serious damage was caused. The mill ceased working commercially in 1961. It was sold to the municipality of

Dongeradeel Dongeradeel (; ) is a former municipality in the northern Netherlands. In 2019 it merged with the municipalities of Ferwerderadiel and Kollumerland en Nieuwkruisland to form the new municipality Noardeast-Fryslân. History Dongeradeel was cr ...

in 1962. It carried Patent sails until 1966, when they were replaced by Common sails. The mill was restored in 1966, 1971, and 1996. The mill is one of the most complete corn and pearl barley mills in Friesland. It is listed as a

, number 31577.

Description

''De Ropta'' is what the Dutch describe as a "stellingmolen". It is a smock mill on a two-storey base, there is a stage 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, 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 mill is winded by tailpole and winch. The sails are Common sails. They have a span of . The stocks are of interest in that one pair is of rivetted construction, made by the Gorter shipyard of

Hoogezand Hoogezand () is a town in the municipality of Midden-Groningen, in the province of Groningen in northeast Netherlands. History The name refers to a higher sanded ''(Hooge Sandt)'' place in the peatlands cut through when the Winschoterdiep Cha ...

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

. The other stock, of welded construction, is claimed to be the first made by the

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'') ...

Christiaan Bremer 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. History Adorp started in the middle ag ...

, Groningen. The sails are carried on a cast-iron ''windshaft'', which was cast in 1891 by De Prins van Oranje of

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

. The ''windshaft'' also carries the ''brake wheel'', which has 61 cogs. This drives the ''wallower'' (32 cogs) at the top of the ''upright shaft''. At the bottom of the ''upright shaft'', the ''great spur wheel'', which has 95 cogs. The ''great spur wheel'' drives two pairs of millstones via a ''lantern pinion stone nut'' which have 24 staves each. The millstones are and diameter, although one of the former is broken. The mill also drives two pairs of diameter millstones which are used for milling

pearl barley Pearl barley, or pearled barley, is barley that has been processed to remove its fibrous outer hull and polished to remove some or all of the bran Bran, also known as miller's bran, is the component of a Cereal, cereal grain consisting o ...

. These are driven by ''lantern pinion wallowers'' which have 20 staves each.

Public access

''De Ropta'' is open to the public by appointment.

Interior

File:Interieur achtkante stellingmolen - AMR Molenfoto - 20538780 - RCE.jpg File:Interieur achtkante stellingmolen - AMR Molenfoto - 20538781 - RCE.jpg File:Interieur achtkante stellingmolen - AMR Molenfoto - 20538782 - RCE.jpg

References

{{Dutch Windmills Windmills in Friesland Windmills completed in 1840 Smock mills in the Netherlands Grinding mills in the Netherlands Agricultural buildings in the Netherlands Rijksmonuments in Friesland Octagonal buildings in the Netherlands