De Beintemapoldermolen is a

smock mill The smock mill is a type of windmill that consists of a sloping, horizontally weatherboarded, thatched, or shingled tower, usually with six or eight sides. It is topped with a roof or cap that rotates to bring the sails into the wind. This t ...

in Westergeest,

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 1870 and has been restored to working order. It 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

''De Beintemapoldermolen'' was built in 1870 to drain the Beintemapolder. It replaced a mill that had burnt down the previous year. In 1950, an electrically powered pump took over the mills' work. Permission was sought in September 1963 to demolish the mill. This was refused. On 30 March 1965, the mill was sold to the local

gemeente Gemeente (Dutch for municipality) may refer to: * Municipalities of the Netherlands * Municipalities of Belgium Communities, regions, and language areas of Belgium, Belgium comprises 565 municipalities (; ; ), 285 of them grouped into five pro ...

. Restoration was carried out in 1968 by

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'') ...

De Roos of

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; ; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 127,073 (2023). It is the provincial capital and seat of the Provin ...

, Fresland, On 19 June 1980, the mill was sold to

Stichting De Fryske Mole The Stichting De Fryske Mole (; ; ) is a foundation for the preservation of windmills in the Dutch province Friesland, owning 42 of the 124 windmills in Friesland and closely co-operating with the Gild Fryske Mounders with which it publishes a q ...

, the 25th mill bought by that organisation. A further restoration was carried out in 1988 by millwright Thijs Jellema of

Birdaard Burdaard is a village in Noardeast-Fryslân in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 1,173 in January 2017. Before 2019, the village was part of the Ferwerderadiel municipality. It is situated south of Jislum, ...

, Friesland. It is listed as a Rijksmonument, №23768.

Description

''De Beintemapoldermolen'' is what the Dutch describe as a ''Grondzeiler''. It is a one storey smock mill on a single storey base. There is no stage, the sails reaching almost to ground level. The mill is winded by tailpole and winch. 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 sails are

Common sails Windmills are powered by their sails. Sails are found in different forms, from primitive common sails to the advanced patent sails. Jib sails The jib sail is found in Mediterranean countries and consists of a simple triangle of cloth wound r ...

. They have a span of . The sails are carried on a

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

''windshaft'', which was cast by Gietijzerij Hardinxveld-Giessendam in 1988. The ''windshaft'' carries the ''brake wheel'' which has 48 cogs. This drives the ''wallower'' (25 cogs) at the top of the ''upright shaft''. At the bottom of the ''upright shaft'' there are two ''crown wheels'' The upper ''crown wheel'', which has 36 cogs drives an

Archimedes' screw The Archimedes' screw, also known as the Archimedean screw, hydrodynamic screw, water screw or Egyptian screw, is one of the earliest documented hydraulic machines. It was so-named after the Greek mathematician Archimedes who first described it ...

via a ''crown wheel''. The lower ''crown wheel'', which has 33 cogs is carried on the axle of an Archimedes' screw, which is used to drain the polder. The axle of the screw is diameter and long. The screw is diameter. It is inclined at 19.3°. Each revolution of the screw lifts of water.

Public access

''De Beintemapoldermolen'' is usually open on Saturdays, or by appointment.

References

{{Dutch Windmills Windmills in Friesland Windmills completed in 1870 Smock mills in the Netherlands Windpumps in the Netherlands Agricultural buildings in the Netherlands Rijksmonuments in Friesland Octagonal buildings in the Netherlands