Broekdijk Mill - Warmond

This national monument used to pump the Broek- and Simontjespolder dry. A small part of the polder is still dewatered by this mill.

The Broekdijk Mill is an eight-sided wooden ground sail on a low stone substructure. Characteristic for a ground sailer is that the blades go close to the ground. An increase was not necessary in the polder country, because the wind could reach the mill unhindered. Inside the mill was a wooden paddle wheel. And do you see that black cross on a white background on the substructure? They used to try to ward off evil. This use can also be seen on farms in the area.

The first mill at this location, from 1625, was made entirely of wood. In 1840, a stone example with a wooden superstructure was built. That superstructure burned down completely in 1972. The windmill had run wild due to the hard wind and the slowing down of the blades caused so much friction that the wooden brake pad smoldered. A new wooden superstructure came all the way from Haarlem. There, a mill from 1862 had to go, and its superstructure fitted wonderfully on the still intact substructure in Leiden. In 1976, the Broekdijk Mill was restored to its former glory.