Four Draaioorder mills | Beemster Mills
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1461 DD Zuidoostbeemster Plan your route to Vier Draaioorder Molens | Beemster Windmills
On old maps and in texts, this area is called 'Draaij oort'. At this place, when the Beemster was still a lake, ships could possibly turn here. Mills were built here during the reclamation.
Demolition and rebuilding
There were two mills at Draaioord. When the Purmerender mills were demolished, one of the two was placed here. In 1632, the Hoofdingelanden (the administration at the time) decided to drastically improve drainage and install a four-stage drainage system here (mill race with four mills behind each other). A fourth mill was added, mill no. 2 in the mill corridor.
During the construction of the slip road on the N244 to Oosthuizen in 2017, remains of this mill corridor and indeed of the second and last mill built emerged. This gave archaeologists an insight into the location of the mill yard and mill life. There were four octagonal upper windmills at Draaioord as part of a total of 50 mills that kept the water level in the polder. Mill number 2 stood below the slip road. If you want to know more, see North Holland archaeological publications.
Poverty at a Draaioorder mill
He...
Demolition and rebuilding
There were two mills at Draaioord. When the Purmerender mills were demolished, one of the two was placed here. In 1632, the Hoofdingelanden (the administration at the time) decided to drastically improve drainage and install a four-stage drainage system here (mill race with four mills behind each other). A fourth mill was added, mill no. 2 in the mill corridor.
During the construction of the slip road on the N244 to Oosthuizen in 2017, remains of this mill corridor and indeed of the second and last mill built emerged. This gave archaeologists an insight into the location of the mill yard and mill life. There were four octagonal upper windmills at Draaioord as part of a total of 50 mills that kept the water level in the polder. Mill number 2 stood below the slip road. If you want to know more, see North Holland archaeological publications.
Poverty on a Draaioorder mill
Life on a mill was hard and things did not always go well. The message below was communicated to the board:
On 9 June, the dike reeve reports on the working visit the chief polder masters made to the Draaioorder mills. The family of miller Adriaan Kruyt at one of the mills was in very poor circumstances. After discussion, it is decided to help Kruyt find a job in the East or West Indies. The children go to the orphanage and the youngest is placed with a family - a 'social' solution anno 1722.