Flour mill de Lelie - Puttershoek

This mill was built in 1836, commissioned by Cornelis van Holst. The local smock mill was demolished at that time. What is exceptional is that this hollow post mill, bought by Cornelis van Holst in 1829, was already replaced in 1836 by a stone mill, built entirely from new materials. The family lived in the miller's house. If stones could speak, this mill would have a lot to tell about luck and misfortune. A miller going bankrupt, conversion with a steam locomotive, grinding grain for the poor, a fatal accident: the mill has seen it all.

Until 1945, three pairs of stones were used for milling: a blue stone for grinding wheat for the bakers, a 16er artificial stone for fodder and a crushing stone for crushing horse beans and later grain. The then six bakers in Puttershoek bought two to three 50-kilogram bales each week and the cattle feed sales were also quite large. In 1948, Leeuwenburgh bought the dilapidated mill and in 1955 sold it to the municipality of Puttershoek for just one guilder. The municipality of Puttershoek had the mill restored immediately afterwards. At that time, the stone hull was made white. Later, the entire body was sandblasted, returning it to its natural stone colour. The mill was restored again in 1987 and has been managed by the foundation Molens Binnenmaas since 1992. De Lelie is regularly in operation and the miller occasionally grinds fodder for demonstration purposes.