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Water
Mills :
As
a whole, mills have been known to exist in Denmark since around the
year 400. The oldest ones were water mills, more precisely “Squat
mills”.
This
type of mill was driven by a small, horizontal wheel with oblique
shovels, onto which the water felt. The wheel shaft was fixed on the
upper mill stone (the runner).
A
Squat Mill only had very limited power, and as a consequence, the
grinding stones were quite small.
In
the middle of the 11th century, the larger water mills
started to appear in Denmark and little by little, they gained on
the small squat mills. Normally, the water mills were used to
pre-grind the grain.
They
could have :
1.
Drop wheels, where the water is running towards the back side
of the wheel.
2.
Upper wheels, where the water is led through a more or less
closed backhoe to the middle of the upper side of the wheel. This
way, both the speed and the weight of the water are used, which then
falls on the wheel’s shovels.
The
gain is therefore important.
Several
Danish water mills still grind grain, for instance Tadre Mill by
Kirke Hvalsø and Blåbæks Mill by Fakse.
Stump
Mills :
A
stump mill is a type of wind mill where the mill house is placed on
a vertical axe on a foot of hard lumber. When the mill is turned
towards the wind, the whole house and the wings are turned. This was
done from the ground with a crank.
Back
then, the stump mills were the most common type of wind mill in
Denmark. Now, there are only a few left, and some are still working,
for instance Pibe Mill in the Northern part of Sealand.
Wind
mills of the Dutch type :
On
a Dutch wind mill, only the hat with the wings can be turned against
the wind. This can be done either by turning by hand or with a crank.
The mill then has a “svans”; a heavy beam construction hanging
down from the hat.
Another
way to turn the wings is an automatic yaw where a wind rose on the
hat makes the hat turn after the wind through an ingenious system of
poles and cogs.
The
hat with wings, which on a mill like Løve Mill weighs appr. 10 tons
is placed loosely on a circular rail on top of the mill’s body.
Therefore, it is very important that this kind of mills always
stands in wind. Otherwise, the pressure from the wind can make the
hat fall off!
There
are 3 kinds of Dutch wind mils :
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The
Galeri Mill,
which is the most common kind. The name comes from the fact that it
has a gallery from where the miller could operate the mill, set
sails, take off, start or stop the mill or turn it into the wind, if
it wasn’t self-yawning. It had a drive-through port and was
therefore quite high. For example, Løve Mølle measures 19 meters
from the ground to the top of the hat.
-
The
Basement Mill,
which stood on a large pile of earth or another type of foundation,
through which the horse carriages could drive. One drove under the
mill. A typical Basement Mill is for instance the Blåbæk Wind mill.
-
The
Earth Mill,
which was placed directly on the ground with no real ground building.
All grain or flour had to be carried in and out of the mill. This
mill is one of the smallest mills of the Dutch type. As an example,
we have the Svalles Mølle by Svallerup.
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