Miedenmolen is a smock mill in Holwerd

Holwerd

Holwerd is a village in the northern Netherlands, in the province of Friesland. Wadloopcentrum Fryslân in Holwerd is a center for the training of wadlopen guides and the preservation of the sport. It was the birthplace of astronomer Johannes Phocylides Holwarda. Holwerd had a station on the North...

, 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 was built in 1855. The mill has been restored to working order. It 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 38696.

History

Meidenmolen was built in 1855 to drain the Dwergsmear Polder. In 1953, the water board decided to fully mechanise the mill. Meetings held on 27 December 1961 and 13 March 1962 resulted in the mill being assisted by an electric motor, but full mechanisation was not carried out. The mill was restored in 1966. The mill was sold to Stichting De Fryske Mole (Frisian Mills Society) on 4 May 1976. Further restorations were carried out in 1978 and 1994, the latter was carried out 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...

 Thijs Jellema of Birdaard. In 2004 a new 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...

 Archimedes screw was fitted. In 2006, the mill was officially listed as being held in reserve for use in an emergency.

Description

Meidenmolen is what the Dutch describe as an grondzeiler. It is a three storey smock mill on a single storey base. There is no stage, the sails reaching almost to the ground. The mill is winded by tailpole and winch. The smock and cap are thatched. The sails are Patent sails. They have a span of 20.8 metre. The sails are carried on a cast iron windshaft, which was cast in 1904 by De Munck Kiezer, Martenshoek

Martenshoek

Martenshoek is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Hoogezand-Sappemeer, about 2 km west of the town of Hoogezand.-References:...

, 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...

. The windshaft also carries the brake wheel which has 57 cogs. This drives the wallower (29 cogs) at the top of the upright shaft. At the bottom of the upright shaft, the crown wheel, which has 44 cogs drives a gearwheel with 43 cogs on the axle of the Archimedes screw. The axle of the Archimedes screw is 620 millimetre diameter. The screw is 1.7 metre diameter and 5.82 metre long. It is inclined at 19.7°. Each revolution of the screw lifts 1667 litres (366.7 imp gal) of water.