Broekdijkmolen
The mill is operated by two volunteer millers and serves as an auxiliary pumping station for the remaining polder with an area of about 50 hectares and a head of 1.45 metres.
The polder Broek en Simontjes was formed in 1625 and in that year, a smock mill was built to drain the polder. This mill, in poor condition, was replaced in 1840 by an octagonal thatched weed whacker.
The polder originally measured 260 hectares. Due to the construction of the Leidse Merenwijk in the early seventies, a large part was depoldered and approximately 50 hectares of the original polder remained.
During a storm in the night of 12 to 13 November 1972, the windmill went wild, but with great difficulty it was stopped. The next morning, the catches still smouldered and were cooled. One day later, at 10 o'clock in the morning, the mill caught fire. Only the stone field walls remain standing, with the charred remains of the mill on top.
Yet the fire does n…
The polder Broek en Simontjes was formed in 1625 and in that year, a smock mill was built to drain the polder. This mill, in poor condition, was replaced in 1840 by an octagonal thatched weed whacker.
The polder originally measured 260 hectares. Due to the construction of the Leidse Merenwijk in the early seventies, a large part was depoldered and approximately 50 hectares of the original polder remained.
During a storm in the night of 12 to 13 November 1972, the windmill went wild, but with great difficulty it was stopped. The next morning, the catches still smouldered and were cooled. One day later, at 10 o'clock in the morning, the mill caught fire. Only the stone field walls remain standing, with the charred remains of the mill on top.
Yet the fire does not mean the end of wind drainage at this location. In the Waarderpolder near Haarlem there is an octagonal windmill that has to go because of the expansion of an industrial area. This mill, dating from 1862, miraculously fits exactly on the remains of the substructure of the burnt Broekdijk mill and, moreover, is made available free of charge by the municipality of Haarlem. In 1974 the complete mill, including the thatched roof, is brought to Warmond and placed on the substructure. In 1975 and 1976 the mill was further rebuilt by constructing a new cap, the running gear and the sails. The rebuilding was supervised by the Rijnlandse Molenstichting.
The windmill continued to drain the polder until 1986. In that year, a pumping station was built and the mill was taken out of use and the ownership transferred to the Rijnlandse Molenstichting by the Water Board of the Old Rhine Flows.
