Torkilstrup Windmill () is a

post mill The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single central vertical post. The vertical post is supported by four quarter bars. These ar ...

south of the village of Torkilstrup on the Danish island of

Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

. Dating from 1743, it is one of the country's few

s which still stand on their original site."Torkilstrup Mølle, Torkilstrupvej 10 A, 4863 Eskilstrup. Guldborgsund Kom."
Møllearkivet.dk. Retrieved 14 December 2012. It was listed in the Danish registry of protected buildings and places in 1959.

History

Standing on a hill to the south of the village, the grain mill dates back to c. 1650. Hans Mortensen acquired it in 1726, operating it for the next 44 years. In 1743, he rebuilt the mill, recording the date on an interior beam around a heart containing his initials (HMSM) together with those of his wife (AMPD) Anna Margrethe Pedersdatter. Mortensen must have been a thrifty individual. On his death at the age of 65, in addition to a chiming clock, an iron stove, a

four-poster bed __NOTOC__ A four-poster bed or tester bed is a Bed (furniture), bed with four vertical columns, one in each corner, that support a tester, or upper (usually rectangular) panel. This tester or panel will often have rails to allow curtains to be ...

, a Bible and a German prayerbook, he left an amount of over 793 rigsdaler, an exceptionally high amount of money for a farmer of his day. The mill remained in operation until 1945."Torkilstrup Mølle"
Møller på Lolland-Falster. Retrieved 14 December 2012. The mill was listed in the Danish registry of protected buildings and places in 1959. It was restored in 1993 in connection with its 250th anniversary."Torkilstrup Mølle"
Lolland-Falster. Retrieved 14 December 2012. Since 2003, the mill has been under the ownership of Guldborgsund municipality, the authority charged with its preservation.

Design

The rectangular mill stands on a

fieldstone Fieldstone is a naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the Earth. Fieldstone is a nuisance for farmers seeking to expand their land under cultivation, but at some point it began to be used as a construction mate ...

foundation. The wooden body of the mill is faced with

shingles Shingles, also known as herpes zoster or zona, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a localized area. Typically the rash occurs in a single, wide mark either on the left or right side of the body or face. T ...

. The boat-shaped roof is also covered with shingles. It has latticed vanes with a span of , designed to be covered with sailcloth. The mill can be rotated by means of a manually operated yaw. For a period, a bakery was attached to the mill. The workings of the mill have been preserved and include grinders, an oat roller, a drum sieve, a cap wheel, a crown drive and a vane shaft."Fredningssag: Torkilstrup Mølle"
Kulturarv.dk. Retrieved 14 December 2012.

Access

Equipped with tables and benches for picnics, the area around the mill can be freely accessed. The mill itself is open to visitors on

Ascension Day The Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ (also called the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday) commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. It ...

from 10 am to noon, on the third Sunday in June (Danish mill day) from 10 am to 2 pm, and on the day the

harvest festival A harvest festival is an annual Festival, celebration that occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times at different ...

is celebrated in

Torkilstrup Church Torkilstrup Church () is located in the village of Torkilstrup some 7 km (4 mi) southeast of Nørre Alslev, on the Denmark, Danish island of Falster. It is built of hewn fieldstone rather than brick, indicating it is one of the oldest ch ...

. It can also be visited by appointment.

References

{{coord, 54, 52, 07, N, 11, 55, 47, E, display=title Buildings and structures completed in 1743 Windmills completed in the 18th century Falster Listed buildings and structures in Guldborgsund Municipality Post mills in Denmark Listed windmills in Denmark 1740s architecture in Denmark