Open Monument Weekend

This weekend is Open Monument Weekend. All over Holland, monuments are opened for the public to visit. The Widde Meuln is considered a monument and is open today. Inge and I went inside. I've blipped the Widde Meuln several times before but never from the inside. Here we see Inge looking through one of the tiny windows.

There is a sign on the windmill explaining a bit of its history. It says:

The Widde Meuln was built in 1839 under Royal Decree by Jan Jakobs van der Heide and Arend Cornelis Pol as a hulling mill. It was converted into a flour mill when taxes on milling were abolished in 1855. An electric motor was installed in around 1925, after which the mill fell into partial disuse. In 1935, the windmill vanes and gallery were removed, followed by the cap a year later.

In 1978, the Widde Meuln was placed on the National Register of Protected Monuments, and the flourmill was fully restored to working order in 2005.

The Widde Meuln is a round brick tower mill, tapered and slightly waisted. One striking feature is that it is built of yellow brick rather than red, which would be more usual for Groningen. The sails have a span of 20.5 metres. The Widde Meuln has two pairs of millstones.

As many as 30 mills once stood along the banks of the Damsterdiep between Groningen and Delfzijl. Of these, only the Widde Meuln now remains.