International Molinology
Journal of The International Molinological Society
No. 66, July 2003 / summary - résumé
Editorial
by Michael Harverson
At the Mills Archive here in Britain, founded last year, a
small team of volunteers are busy week after week cata-loguing, scanning and digitising
mill material bequeathed by molinologists of the 20 th
century, some of them TIMS members, ready for the launch this autumn of a website
devoted to the subject close to the heart of every reader of International Molinology, www.millarchive.com.
Most of the work so far is concerned with photographs, some dating back almost one hundred
years. These will assist in the accurate restoration and preservation of mills, as well as
contributing to the scope of the research carried out into our mill heritage. Recently
another significant mill archive has been formally established, in Denmark, to preserve
and make available the research material of Anders Jespersen, a distinguished, senior TIMS
member: see TIMS News pages below. Please let me know of any other major projects of this
kind elsewhere, so that they can be publicised in IM and be accessed by our
international membership.
The Internet, unheard of a decade ago, will be univer-sally taken
for granted by 2013. It is already a valuable tool, a source of information and a means of
contact. Much of TIMS Council business is transacted by email, instead of by the now
rather tedious postal system, saving precious funds and time. In this issue of IM there
are details of a new web-site for boat mills, one for the mills of Southern Africa and one
by a senior Danish molinologist that makes accessible to us all his visual categorisation
of water-lifting devices around the world. The excellent TIMS website will shortly contain
an updated version of the TIMS Papers Index, mas-ter-minded by Frans Woons, with the
rigorous assistance of Niall Roberts. We are grateful to them both for giving much time to
this valuable facility for molinologists.
National Mills Day has come and gone in the United Kingdom, on 11
th May – the Hampshire Mills Group
alone, whose Newsletter is sent to IM, had a dozen mills open to the public with
several grinding. Schweizer Mühlentag is on 31 st May,
with over 80 Swiss mills [no windmills!] taking part. La Journée des Moulins in France is
due on 15 th June. Ecomuseu Municipal do
Seixal, a TIMS member, probably includes a mill celebration in the full programme sent to IM,
but my imperfect Portuguese cannot spot it! Please keep IM readers informed of
similar nationwide efforts to publicise your mill heritage in 2004.
Finally, a welcome to Ian Scotter who has taken over the
demanding work of preparing the lay-out of our TIMS publications from Albert Bongers. This
is his first IM, though he cut his teeth, so-to-speak, on BM16, a very
successful production.
| Original Papers |
Mills on th Azores
Each Island has its own tradition
by Ton Meesters
The Azores are
situated in the Atlantic Ocean on the same latitude as the Portuguese capital, Lisbon.
Santa Maria lies nearest to Portugal at 1450 km, Corvo the farthest at 2100 km. The Azores
consist of three archipelagos: the western group of two islands, Flores and Corvo; the
central group of five islands: Terceira, Graciosa, São Jorge, Faial and Pico; the eastern
group of São Miguel, Santa Maria and the uninhabited Formigas Islands. The Azores have an
autonomous status within Portugal.
Until a few decades ago the islanders had little contact with the
outside world. Due to the fact that most of these islands are widely separated, contacts
between them were few. Despite this remoteness, there were some significant links with the
outside world: Flemish, Spanish and Breton settlers have all populated these islands in
the past. In the 18 th century Faial exported wine, as far as to Russia. Later, American
whalers came to Faial, where they erected a whaling factory. Faial developed into the
central station for the submarine cables for telegraphy.
It is not clear what influence the origins of the islands’
population and the contacts with the outside world had on the development of their mills
and millwrighting. Each island had its own tradition, with its own customs and its own
dialect. These specific traditions can be found in the mills too. The number of mills and
the variation of mill types is unprecedented.
The islands, which are situated on the same line of fracture as
Iceland, have a volcanic origin. This explains why basalt lava is found as a building
material in all the mills. The massive base of the post mill is the most striking example
of the use of basalt lava as a building material: the base is piled up without using any
form of mortar and is in fact very stable. On 8 July 1998 the Azores were struck by an
earthquake, which especially affected the north-eastern part of Faial. A number of these
bases may have suffered severe damage and lost some of their stability.
Seven of the Azores islands were visited by TIMS members
Leo van der Drift, Ton Meesters, Gerd Odenthal and Frans Rutten in September 2001. The
time available did not permit them to visit the islands of Corvo and Flores (1). The
purpose of the trip was to make an inventory of the different mill types, both windmills
and watermills, recording their use as well as their distribution on the Azores. Due to
the limitation of time it was not possible to make a full survey of every windmill or
watermill still standing on these seven islands. The report is therefore to be considered
as a ‘snapshot’ and not as a complete investigation of all the historical and
technical developments of these mills. Almost 170 molinological sites were visited.
 |
Fig. 1. Portela
(F31). Common type of post mill. Tapered base of lava blocks and body. Four West European
sails with bowsprit, tailpole with long braces. Balcony is partly missing.
|
Seven of the Azores islands were visited by TIMS members Leo van der Drift, Ton Meesters, Gerd Odenthal and Frans Rutten in September 2001. The time available did not permit them to visit the islands of Corvo and Flores (1). The purpose of the trip was to make an inventory of the different mill types, both windmills and watermills, recording their use as well as their distribution on the Azores. Due to the limitation of time it was not possible to make a full survey of every windmill or watermill still standing on these seven islands. The report is therefore to be considered as a ‘snapshot’ and not as a complete investigation of all the historical and technical developments of these mills. Almost 170 molinological sites were visited.
  |
Top:
Below: |
(16 pages, 17 pictures and appendix with mill visited)
Policies for Mill Preservation in Greece
(Greek Proposal re Granada Contract)
by Stylianos Mouzakis (Civil Engineer; President of ItEM)
Introduction: The Agreement signed in Granada, Spain, between the
European nations in 1985 “for the protection of the architectural heritage”
created new perspectives. Although the existing Greek legislation on this subject did not
run counter to the terms of the agreement, its redefinition is a prior requirement for
determining generally accepted conditions concerning the country’s architectural
heritage.
According to Article 1 of Law 2039, laid down in 1992, the
Agreement on the European Architectural Heritage states that the term “architectural
heritage” includes:
1. Constructions of special technological importance, including buildings and
machinery,
2. Architectural groups of agricultural buildings of scientific, social or technological
interest,
3. Areas where human effort and nature have produced striking or beautiful achievements.
All the above requirements are fulfilled in the case of traditional waterpowered
installations. The typical Greek watermill with a horizontal wheel impresses us by its
distinctive characteristics. Such mills are mainly small-scale constructions of vernacular
architecture, notable for their harmony of volumes, simplicity, use of local materials,
the solutions adopted to overcome difficulties during construction and their unforced
adaptation to the natural environment. Watermills occur as simple individual buildings or
as part of a farm complex (Fig.6) or even creating a whole structural group of their own
(Fig.7). They can be sited in series along a watercourse.
The article summaries the proposals - "regarding the Protection and Promotion of
Waterpowered Installations in Greece, bases on the Legislation established by the Granada
Contract" - the author put forward at a Symposium organized by the Ministry of the
Environment and Public Works on 19-20 June,2001.
 |
Fig. 6 (left): Island of Kythera - Watermill in Plantanous:
farmhouse an stone millrace. General plan and section. |
| Fig. 7 (right): Xanthe: group of water cornmill and fulling mill; two-storeyed house. |
|
(4 pages with pictures plans)
Tidemills in Suriname
by Walter Minchinton
(The author, a TIMS member, died some years ago. This unpublished
article was found among his papers.)
(2 pages, 1 picture)
Cornmills in South Africa
The effects of climate, progress and legislation
by Joanna Marx
 |
Fig. 3. .Rheenendal
watermill, near Swellendam, before restoration. It stands on a farm, but by the roadside.
The iron waterwheel drives a portable mill and various pieces of equipment as well as the
main machinery. The wall in which the waterwheel is mounted is usually made of stone; the
other walls may be of mud bricks. (Photo: Andre Pretorius) |
(4 pages, 1 map and 3 picutres)
| Communications |
Bulgarian Windmills
by Chris Gibbings
Two Apline Windmills
by Gareth Hughes
Swedish Soldier's Handmill
by Mildred Cooksen
Origin of the Malta Windmill
by Louis Blom
Margat Castle
by Fred Atkins
Boat Mills from Mildred Cookson's Colletion
 Fig. 4 Boat mill on the river Rhine - advertising Liebigs's Meat Extract. |
 Fig. 2: Mill on the Tiber (Italy) from a magazine of 1905. |
Book Reviews
News
Subscriptions for
2003: Apologies for the non-appearance of the usual notice from the treasurer. Amongst
numerous inserts in IM65 it got missed out. You should all have received by now a reminder
by post or email, stating the rate - €28 - for
this year. Payment in January - TIMS works by the calendar year - is appreciated.
Mid-term Excursion
to the Baltic States: this was a sell-out within a month of the notice that appeared in
IM65. Varis Bokalders will lead the TIMS party on an eight-day tour of Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania in August. Read about our experiences in IM67!
Eleventh TIMS Symposium:
to be held in Portugal from 25th September to 3rd October, 2004, with pre- and
post-Symposium tours in the Azores and Galicia respectively. All TIMS members should have
received full details from the chairman of the organising committee, Jorge Miranda, by
now. Please consider attendance: this will be a splendid opportunity to meet together as
the international molinological community and to sample both the mills and the hospitality
of our Portuguese members and their contacts.
Twelfth TIMS Symposium:
a reminder that at the General Meeting in 2004 presentations will be welcomed from
national groups prepared to offer to host this prestigious event. We know of two serious
possibilities at present. Contact the TIMS President or Secretary for further information.
Transactions of the Ninth
TIMS Symposium: Balazs, György the Hungarian editor is continuing to work on the
final stages of this important publication. The previous TIMS chairman and the present
TIMS president are in touch with him and encouraging him to get into print as soon as
possible.
The TIMS Dictionary of
Molinology: Textual work on this publication is now complete. As already
intimated, the working group is proposing that this should be issued as a CD-ROM, free to
all members, for two reasons: (1) we hope that readers will help to fill the remaining
gaps in the four languages, so that this draft text may be finalised in due course in a
standard BM volume; (2) CD-ROM format should be much cheaper than print and could be
accessed for study and consideration on a provisional basis without great difficulty by
most TIMS members - on their own PCs, on a friend's or on the facilities at a municipal
library:
Please not: The prited issue of IM 66 contains only black and white
fotos. On the TIMS homepage we have illustrated the summary with some pictures in colour.
| New Service: Download: Deutsche Zusammenfassung IM66_d.pdf 40 KB |
Download: Résumé français IM66_f.pdf 36 KB |
ISSN 1024-4522
This summary of the 66th Jounal of The International Molinological Society
has been prepared by Gerald Bost, Berlin - January 2004.
The complete printed version can be ordered from TIMS Publication Officer:
Leo van der Drift
Groothertoginnelaan 174 b/c
NL-2517 EV Den Haag
The Netherlands
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 , Berlin, Germany
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 , Voorburg, Netherlands |
Published: dinsdag, november 06, 2007 12:47:50
