International Molinology
Bulletin of The International
Molinological Society
No. 53 November 1996 / summary -
résumé
- Editorial: Mill Restauration Policies
by Yolt IJzermann
In International Molinology 51 Mr. Marcel Burgaud from France drew our attention to
a rather alarming aspect of the "restoration wave" sweeping over major parts of
the western world.
In most countries we notice a growing consciousness of our monumental
heritage. Gradually the traditional agricultural societies are disappearing, even in the
most remote parts of Europe. In those parts where this process had already taken place
decades ago a similar disappearance of the physical remains of such societies can be
registered. Together with this process however, the inhabitants seem to become more
interested in preserving or restoring the few remaining items. Among these items are
mills, both water- and windmills. However, during the process of development, the
knowledge about traditional societies and the skills being part of them often seem to have
disappeared at an even faster rate than the physical remains themselves. One of the
reasons lies in the fact that in tradional societies skills and knowledge are more
strongly related to individuals than to written sources. As a result this knowlege is
usually gone within one generation.
During the last decade numerous local mill preservation groups were
founded. After many years of neglect these groups want to bring back to life some aspects
of the traditional society like mills. But often this appears to have become rather
troublesome because the knowledge and skills to fulfill this task are gone.
What we find is that many restoration projects are realized with a
lack of the necessary background. Quite naturally, and with the best intensions, severe
mistakes are being made. I have seen a number and have heard about many more rather
disastrous examples of "restored" mills in all the countries I visited to see
mills - not only in Europe, but in the USA as well. And it appears to be almost impossible
to discuss the failures made with the local initiators because they are not only
materially, but also emotionally too dedicated to their projets. Also, they have been
acting as "experts" in the local context, which makes it hard to convince them
of their mistakes.
This all results in "restored" or even "authentic"
mills in which an expert will notice major errors. regional constractions may have
disappeared because the architect or the craftsman cam from another region. Sails may be
made shorter for the convenience of the public or for safety reasons. Gearing - the most
specialist part of mills! - may be made from the wrong kind of wood or may be made out of
wood, looking like (the original) cast iron. Many more examples can be found!
A number of restoration projects aim at a "beautiful" mill
(initiated by local tourist information service?) rather than an authentic one. Or, the
original construction is too cumbersome or too expensive to make and instead, a fake
mechanism is constructed.
It becomes even worse if mills, especially windmills, are being put
into operation. First of all, working a mill is not the same as letting it
turn once or twice! And often, local authorities know even less about mill technology than
the restoration initiators. This may result in a prohibition to work the mill by wind -
"too dangerous!" - and an enforced installation of an electric motor to turn the
sails. It has even been registered that local authorities could not be convinced a mill
could work by wind at all!
Other examples can be found at the other end of the range, in my
country. One aspect is that here, today, all mills must be able to work after
restoration, even when in practice this will happen only rarely if at all. I may, however,
result in such a radical renewal of major parts that the original atmosphere is just about
gone. Another is the construction of many virtually new "historic" mills on
sites where only some remnants of the original building were saved or a turbine driven
watermill which was "restored" with a waterwheel to look better!
We, as TIMS, are not aiming at the preservation and restoration of
mills in the first place. Our main concern should be the systematic study and
documentation of the construction and functioning - in technical and socioeconnomic way -
of mills. In molinology, as in any field of study, we only know how little we know after
years of experience. In the first place we should be aware that mill restoration is a
subject bristling with pitfalls in which we too often will not know off hand what solution
would be the best. We should be rather careful and most conscious in any advice. We
should also try to convince any local group to do more research before they start a
project and make things not "beautiful" but authentic.
Original Papers
- The Horizontal Windmill in Denainvilliers, France
by Annie Candoré
A report on a unique mill at Denainvilliers (located near Pithiviers,
a town of 10.000 inhabitants, 80 km south of Paris). This my be the first grain storage
system invented by Duhamel du Monceau - a system of ventilation of grain - the remains of
a very rare silo-mill. The facts and figures of this report come from Joseph de Pelet, the
present owner of the mill. (4 pages with drawings and pictures)
- Two Water-powered Saw Mills in Sweden
by A.J. IJzerman
| During my holiday in Scandinavia in advance of the 1995 TIMS
excursion, I visited several wind- and watermills in southern and mid-Sweden. Little
information was availabele when I startet the tour so it was by mere coincidence that I
discovered two virtually complete water-powered saw mills. Both mills are remarkably
similar but rather different from what I had seen of saw mills in other parts of
Scandinavia. (7 pages with many pictures) |
 |
- French Millstones for King's Lynn
by Owen Ward
From roman times, or possibly even earlier, "milstones from
france" did not mean the flinty stone from la Ferté at all, but the volcanic rock,
but that was already more familiar to millers and householders of those times, and which
was found in France from Volvic in the region of Agde on the coast near Montpellier.
This volcanic rock, of course, is similar to the grey Eifel or Cullen
stone, which was imported into England by Romans, and in parts of eastern England remained
the basic millstone. This was certainly true of mills in towns and on estates served by
the East Anglian port of King's Lynn, which is where we also find some very early written
records of stones from France reaching England.
This paper discribes the valuable data from some of the old documents.
(5pages)
- An Unique Windmill Discovery in England
by Kenneth Major
| One of our members, driving along the M5 (England) motorway
and thus having no ability to stop, saw the sails of a windmill over an apple orchard. He
broke his next journey to the south and found that there was a tall windmill tower with a
cap and four sails. An E. Lancaster Burne windmill which survived since 1924. (2 pages and
pictures) |
 |
Communications
- Windmills, Watermills and INTERNET
by Jur Kingma
A short explanation on what Internet is all about. Jur startet of a
discussion with this report and his fist homepage (http://www.pi.net/+kingma/home.html) -
this was later discussed at the Hungarian Symposium by some of the memers like Wiard,
Gerald, Yolt, and so on and ended up in a project for Web-Pages on a TIMS Server in
Delft. This started in October 1997.
- Mill Stamps and other Philatelic Items from Rumania
Popovici Constanin has written to TIMS to draw attention to his philatelic service.
Adress: P.O. Box 22-75, 70166 Bucharest, RUMANIA
- other subjects
* Addendum to Report of the Mini-Tour of Swedish Mills; by Niall Roberts
* A Windmill-driven Vessel; by J. Kenneth Major
* The Sibiu Poen Air Museum in Rumania; by Owen Ward
* Looking for Watermills in India; by M. Harverson
* Mill Literature, Book Reviews, Book announcements
* TIMS News
* TIMS-America / TIMS-Portugal / TIMS Membership List
* Obiturary to Professor W.E. Minchinton
This summary of the 56th Bulletin of The International Molinological Society
has been prepared be Gerald Bost, Berlin. The complete printed version can be
ordered from TIMS Publication Officer.
Back to Bulletin-Overview
Published:
dinsdag, november 06, 2007 12:47:50
, Berlin, Germany
& Wiard
Beek
, Voorburg, Netherlands