The Pietendries Mill
There was a mill here already in 1563. A mill is shown on a map drawn up when the Bruges Canal was dug in 1651. It's in Knesselare on the border with Aalter and Ursel. It was the successor of the East Mill that stood in Aalter. Its name comes from the "Ter Pieten" Estate which belonged to a religious order. It was built near the long gone Piet Chapel (The "ie" in Piet and in dries is pronounced like in pete or peat.) A "dries" was a common where the common man was allowed to graze his goat or cow.
During the Ancien Regime the land and the mill on it were the
property of the Lord of the Land of the "Woestijne" (Desert). The
mill we can see here now—and visit—was rebuilt in 1804 after suffering
heavy damage in a storm: in fact it was thrown to the ground.
It is the oldest post mill in the whole region. A post mill is literally hung
up on and built around a central post called the canister. The canister in the
Pietendries Mill is elm. When the miller wants the wings to face the wind the
whole mill has to be turned on its canister.
To turn the wings of a tower mill into the eye of the wind only the cap has to be turned. In our regions tower mills were made of stone. They are sturdier and usually higher and therefore more efficient. But also much more expensive to build. See here for a great example of a tower mill.
The canister stands on two horizontal beams as if on a cross and the beams that make up this cross rest on 4 supports usually of brick. The beams and piers that make up the support of the mill are called the trestle. The trestle of the Pietendries Mill is protected by what is called a roundhouse, except that the roundhouse of the Pietendries Mill is octogonal in shape. It is covered with the kind of roofing tiles that not so long ago you saw everywhere in Flanders.
Here are the names of some of the millers who worked the mill: Jan Braet (1645), the widow of Christiaan Braet (1665), Karel Heytens (1667), Martijn Dhaenens (1668), Mathijs Serlippens (1669), Servaas De Poorter (1676), Jan Goethals, who came from Sijsele, (1707), Joannes Kerckaert (1730-32), Pieter-Jacob Hertschap (1741), Pieter Herschap (1777), the de Weirt family (1782-1794), the Gernaeys family (1818-1867), Pieter-Bernardus De Bruyckere (1867-1877), Petrus Taets-Martens (1880-1920).
Its last fulltime miller was Henri Taets. He was born in 1922. He
was a very pious man. He loved his mill very dearly and was known far and wide
for his intelligence and professionalism. Other millers who had a problem with
their mill could always count on him. He also knew a thing or two about the
weather and kept a "weather book". He did a lot of repairs on his
mill himself. He died aged 84 on 31 December 1965. He had worked his mill
until well into his 83rd year when he became too ill to continue. It pained him
very deeply to know his mill stood idle and was kept waiting for the important
repairs it so badly needed.
On 11 September 1968 the Pietendries Mill became a listed monument. It was acquired by Knesselare town in 1974. It was thoroughly restored from 1978 till 1983. It has two pairs of French millstones.
Now Marc De Vlieger opens the mill on many Sundays and if you have a sack of wheat he'll mill it for you—wind permitting of course.
More pictures of the Pietendries Mill
Our text on the windmills of our Meetjesland
Our list of the windmills of our Meetjesland
Our text on Knesselare
