Lonjé Molen or Tadema's Molen is a smock mill in Bolsward

Bolsward

Bolsward is a city in Súdwest Fryslân in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. Bolsward is just short of a population of 10,000.- History :The town is founded on three artificial dwelling hills, of which the first was built some time before Christ....

, 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 9861.

History

Lonjé Molen was built in 1824. The mill was also named Tadema's Molen after one of the millmen. In 1933, the mill was fitted with Dekkerised sails. In 1948/49 it was proposed that an electric motor would be installed to drive the mill. This proposal was dropped in 1950. The sails were renewed in 1959. In 1967 an electric motor was installed, but arranged so the mill could still work too. The mill was restored in 1970/71. Further restoration work was done 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...

s Bouwbedrijf Hiemstra of Tzummarum

Tzummarum

Tzummarum is a small village in Franekeradeel in the province Friesland of the Netherlands and has around the 1340 citizens ....

 in the early 2000s, at a cost of €100,000

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

. The official reopening by Mayor Koopmans of Bolward took place on 18 September 2002.

Description

Lonjé's Molen is what the Dutch describe as an "achtkante grondzeiler" . It is a smock mill winded by a winch. There is no stage, the sails reaching almost to the ground. The mill has a single storey brick base and a three storey smock. The smock and cap are thatched. The four Common sails have leading edges steamlined with the Dekker system. They have a span of 18.72 metre and are carried in a cast iron windshaft. This was cast by the Koninklijke Nederlandse Grof Smederij, Leiden, Noord Holland in 1897. The windshaft also carries the brake wheel which has 47 cogs. This drives the wallower (28 cogs) at the top of the upright shaft. At the bottom of the upright shaft, the crown wheel (35 cogs) drives the wooden Archimedes screw via a gear wheel with 31 cogs. The Archimedes screw has an axle diameter of 532 millimetre and is 1.43 metre diameter overall. It is inclined at an angle of 22°. Each revolution of the screw lifts 907 litres (199.5 imp gal) of water.