Spinnenkop Wedderveer () is a wind powered

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

in the village of

Wedderveer Wedderveer () is a hamlet near Wedde in the municipality of Westerwolde in the Netherlands. It has a population of around 135 and a total area of . The sawmill Spinnenkop has been listed as a national heritage site since 1990.Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

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 ...

. It is a hollow post windmill of the type called "spinnenkop" by the Dutch built on top of a brick shed. The mill 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 ...

, number 388083 and is in working order.

History

The mill was designed by

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Luitje Wiersema and built by the first owner and operator Eiko Jan Feunekes in 1938 to saw lumber from his oak plantation. After Feunekes death in 1940 ownership of the mill changed several times and by 1985 the mill was in such a bad state of repair that it was under threat of dismantlement. It was saved from this fate by obtaining monument status in 1990. The new owners A. Dost and O. Schaver managed to restore the mill in 1997 using government subsidies.

Description

The ''mill of Wedderveen'' is what the Dutch describe as a "spinnenkop" (English: spiderhead mill). It is a small hollow post mill winded by a fantail. It is one of only two windmills in the Netherlands using this winding system, the other being De Sterrenberg. The Patent sails have a span of and are carried on a steel ''windshaft''. The ''brake wheel'' on the windshaft drives the ''wallower'' at the top of the ''upright shaft'' in the body (called head on a spinnenkop), which passed through the main post into the substructure. Here the ''crown wheel'' drives a shaft with pulleys and a

flat belt A belt is a loop of flexible material used to link two or more rotating shafts mechanically, most often parallel. Belts may be used as a source of motion, to transmit power efficiently or to track relative movement. Belts are looped over pulley ...

. The mill is built on top of a brick storage shed. It formerly powered a horizontal saw located outside. Currently the mill poweres a

bandsaw A bandsaw (also written band saw) is a power saw with a long, sharp blade consisting of a continuous band of toothed metal stretched between two or more wheels to cut material. They are used principally in woodworking, metalworking, and lum ...

housed in the shed.

Public access

The mill is open to the public on appointment.

References

External links

* {{Dutch Windmills Hollow post mills in the Netherlands Rijksmonuments in Groningen (province) Westerwolde (municipality) Windmills completed in 1934 Windmills in Groningen (province) 1934 establishments in the Netherlands 20th-century architecture in the Netherlands