De Achlumer Molen, Achlum
Encyclopedia
De Achlumer Molen is a smock mill
Smock mill
The smock mill is a type of windmill that consists of a sloping, horizontally weatherboarded tower, usually with six or eight sides. It is topped with a roof or cap that rotates to bring the sails into the wind...

 in Achlum
Achlum
Achlum is a village in the Dutch province of Friesland. It is located in the municipality Franekeradeel, about 7 km southwest of the city of Franeker.Achlum has about 666 inhabitants.- History :...

, Friesland
Friesland
Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...

, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 which has been restored to working order. The mill is listed as a Rijksmonument
Rijksmonument
A rijksmonument is a National Heritage Site of the Netherlands, listed by the agency Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed acting for the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.-History and criteria:...

, number 15821.

History

De Achlumer Molen was built in 1851 to drain the Achlumer Noorderpolder. It worked by wind until 1954 when the cap and sails were removed and the smock tower fitted with a thatched conical roof. After that, an electric motor
Electric motor
An electric motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.Most electric motors operate through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors to generate force...

 drove the Archimedes screw.

In 1981, the mill was bought by Stichting De Fryske Mole (English: The Frisian Mills Society). The previous owner, Haye Thomas, a Dutch TV journalist, sold the mill for ƒ1. In September 2006 it was decided to restore the mill. The work was undertaken in the summer of 2007. On 18 October 2007 the new cap and sails were fitted to the mill. The restoration was carried out by Bouwbedrijf Hiemsta of Arum
Arum, Friesland
Arum is a small village in the Dutch province of Friesland. It is located in the municipality Wûnseradiel, about 5 km southeast of the city of Harlingen.The village itself has about 850 inhabitants...

.

Description

De Achlumer Molen is what the Dutch describe as an achtkante grondzeiler - a smock mill whose sails reach almost to the ground. It is a three storey smock mill on a single storey base. The smock and cap are thatched. The mill is winded by a tailpole and winch. The sails are one pair of Common sails and one pair of Patent sails. The Common sails are carried on the inner stock. They have a span of 18.6 metre; the Patent sails are carried on the outer stock. They have a span of 18.7 metre. They are carried on a cast iron windshaft which was cast by Koning in 1909. It is 4.15 metre long. The Brake wheel has 51 cogs. It drives the wallower (27 cogs) at the top of the upright shaft. At the lower end of the uprght shaft, the crown wheel (42 cogs) drives the Archimedes screw via a gearwheel with 39 cogs. The steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

 screw is 1.2 metre diameter and 4.45 metre long, its axle is 500 millimetre diameter. It is inclined at 22½°. Each revolution of the screw lifts 561 litres (123.4 imp gal) of water.

Public access

Achlumer Molen is open to the public on the Dutch National Mills Day
National Mills Day
National Mills Day is an event in the United Kingdom and occurs annually on the second Sunday in May. It started off as a single day event but in recent years has expanded to Saturday as well as Sunday, and is now promoted as National Mills Weekend. The event is coordinated by the Wind and...

and also on the Friese Mills Day.
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