De Hoop 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 Wachtum

Wachtum

Wachtum is a village in the municipality Coevorden in the Dutch province Drenthe. To the former municipality Dalen, belonged to the municipal division in 1998. Oosterhesselen lies north of Wachtum and Dalen lies south. It has an altitude of 11 metres and a population of about 280. Wachtum is an...

, Drenthe

Drenthe

Drenthe is a province of the Netherlands, located in the north-east of the country. The capital city is Assen. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and Germany to the east.-History:Drenthe, unlike many other parts of the Netherlands, has been a...

, which has been restored to working order. The mill was built in 1894 and 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 11637.

History

De Hoop was originally built at Veendam

Veendam

Veendam is a municipality and a town in the northeastern Dutch province of Groningen.A Holland America Line cruise ship, the MS Veendam, is named after the city.- Population centres :...

, Groningen

Groningen (province)

Groningen [] is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands. In the east it borders the German state of Niedersachsen , in the south Drenthe, in the west Friesland and in the north the Wadden Sea...

, where it was used as a drainage mill known as Hoop op Beter. It was moved by millwright

Millwright

A millwright is a craftsman or tradesman engaged with the construction and maintenance of machinery.Early millwrights were specialist carpenters who erected machines used in agriculture, food processing and processing lumber and paper...

 Rietsma of Haulerwijk

Haulerwijk

Haulerwijk is a village consisting of about 3300 inhabitants in the municipality of Ooststellingwerf in the east of Friesland in the Netherlands.-External links:**...

, 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...

. In 1937, streamlined leading edges were fitted to the sails although the mill stopped working c1940. The mill was restored in 1968-69 by millwright Huberts of Coevorden

Coevorden

Coevorden is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands. During the municipal reorganisation in the province in 1998, Coevorden merged with Dalen, Sleen, Oosterhesselen and Zweeloo.- Population centers :...

 and returned to work with Herman Snijders as miller. Snijders died in 1997 and the Stichting Molen De Hoop (English: De Hoop Mill Society) was set up to preserve the mill. A further restoration was undertaken in 2000 by millwright Molema of Heiligerlee

Heiligerlee

Heiligerlee is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen bordering the town of Winschoten, it is part of the municipality of Oldambt. The village is known for having been the site of the first battle of the Dutch rebels against the Spanish. The army led by Louis and Adolf of Nassau defeated the...

, Groningen. A new cap was fitted as well as longer sails and the mill was rethatched. The restored mill was officially opened on 26 August 2000 (the Drentse Molendag

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...

) by Mrs Kools, the Deputy Minister for Culture in Drenthe.

Description

De Hoop is what the Dutch describe as an "achtkante stellingmolen". It is a three storey smock mill with a stage on a two storey brick base. The stage is at first floor level, 3.2 metre above ground level. The smock and cap are thatched. The mill is winded by a tailpole and winch. The four Common sails have a span of 21.2 metre and are carried in a cast iron windshaft. The windshaft also carries the brake wheel which has 71 cogs. This drives the wallower (38 cogs) at the top of the upright shaft. At the bottom of the upright shaft, the great spur wheel, which has 97 cogs, drives the 1.3 metre diameter French Burr stones via a lantern pinion stone nut with 28 staves. The mill formerly drove three pairs of millstones.