Victor, Wanswerd

Victor, Wanswerd
Victor, Wanswerd
	De Victor and the terp with church of Wanswerd in the background
Origin
Mill name	De Victor
Mill location	Near Wanswerd
Coordinates	53°17′56.9″N 5°50′59″E / 53.299139°N 5.84972°E
Operator(s)	Stichting De Fryske Mole
Year built	1867
Information
Purpose	Drainage mill
Type	Smock mill
Storeys	Three-storey smock
Base storeys	One-storey base
Smock sides	Eight sides
No. of sails	Four sails
Type of sails	Common sails
Windshaft	Cast iron
Winding	Tailpole and winch
Auxiliary power	Diesel engine
Type of pump	Archimedes' screw

The Victor is a drainage mill in Wanswerd (West Frisian: Wânswert), Friesland, Netherlands. The mill is listed as a Rijksmonument, number 15644.^[1]

History

In 1867, De Victor was built to replace 6 smaller drainage mills and 3 tjaskers. The mill was taken over by Stichting De Fryske Mole in 1975 and restored in 1977 when the original Patent Sails were replaced by common sails. In 2006 the windmill was designated as a reserve for emergency situations.^[2] The mill is currently awaiting restoration, among which repairs to its foundations, expecting to start in spring 2012.

Description

The Victor is what the Dutch describe as an "achtkante grondzeiler". It is a smock mill without a stage, the sails reaching almost to the ground. The brick base is one storey high with a three-storey smock on top. Both smock and cap are thatched. The mill is winded by tailpole and winch. The cap is carried on 16 fixed cast-iron rollers instead of the in the Netherlands common wooden blocks or unfixed rollers moving along a rail, meaning the entire weight of the cap and sails is carried by the axles of the rollers.

The four common sails have a span of 19.60 metres (64 ft 4 in) and are carried on a cast-iron windshaft cast by foundry Koning in 1911 as number 0210. Gears and the upright shaft bring the windpower to the Archimedes' screw which is 1.43 metres (4 ft 8 in) in diameter and can lift 894 litres (197 imp gal) of water per revolution.^[1]

A 22 hp Lister HA diesel engine, once used as auxiliary power, is still in situ in the mill but is no longer connected to the Archimedes' screw.^[3]

Public access

The mill is open to the public by appointment.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Molenbestand: De Victor" (in Dutch). De Hollandsche Molen. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
^ "Wanswerd, Fryslân" (in Dutch). Molendatabase. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
^ Stichting De Fryske Mole (1995). Friese Molens (in Dutch). Leeuwarden: Friese Pers Boekerij bv. p. 145. ISBN 90-330-1522-6.