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| 2413 A hollow post mill in Kaag |
Posted on 27.03.2016, 21.08.2016
The post mill is probably the earliest type of European windmill, and it was invented because in Europe the wind has no prevailing direction. The defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single vertical post, around which it can be turned to bring the sails into the wind. The design and usage of these windmills peaked in the 18th and 19th centuries and then declined after the introduction of high-speed steam-driven milling machinery.
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| 2700 A hollow post mill |
Among the many variants of post mills are the hollow post mills. In these mills the main post is bored to take a driveshaft, similar to an Upright Shaft in a smock or tower mill. This enables the mill to drive machinery in the base or roundhouse. In the Netherlands, they are called wipmolen and were mostly used for drainage (poldermolen). This type of windmill was used mainly in the polder areas of central and western Netherlands.
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