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Mills of Finland

Types of Finnish mill

Throughout Rex Wailes’ Finnish collection, over 1200 photographs of mills can be found, ranging over many thousand kilometres. These mills each have many different functions, traits and characteristics; here the main types are discussed in outline.

Overall, post (toe) mills are the most common type of mill in Finland, and the further north travelled, the more can be found. Smock (mamsel) mills and hollow post (magpie or chicken-hawk) mills are more numerous in the south. Windmills in general are less widely spread in Central and Eastern Finland due to the large number of lakes in these parts, and the fact that less corn is grown there. Watermills can be found over the whole area that windmills exist, however very few with horizontal wheels now remain.

TOE MILLS 

Toe mill on Alitalo Farm in Masku, Kiveinen, Varsinais-Suomi
Toe mill on Alitalo Farm in Masku, Kiveinen, Varsinais-Suomi

A toe mill is the alternative name for a Finnish post mill, and one which Rex appears to have preferred. Toe mills are very common all over Finland, and are the earliest form of European mill. The main body contains all of the machinery and is where the sails are also attached. The whole mill, including the stones, is turned into the wind about an upright wooden post supported by quarterbars and crosstrees. The mill may be secured in place by a tailpole, which is used to turn the mill. Toe mills are characterised by being made from vertical timber panels, and usually have four equal sides. These mills are unable to drive more than two pairs of stones, and the sails are much heavier than the British equivalent in relation to their body. The low substructure, and having the post reach high into the mill frame, means that they are not detrimentally affected, however, even in high winds.

MAMSEL MILLS

Vaani Estate mamsel mill, Eura, Satakunta
Vaani Estate mamsel mill, Eura, Satakunta

A mamsel mill is the alternative name for a Finnish smock mill, and is a common type of mill across Finland. These mills have a fixed body and moveable cap, which can be turned without the body of the mill moving. The machinery in the mill also rotates, but the stones remain in a fixed position. They are almost exclusively constructed of weather-boarded timber, and a manual tailpole is usually attached to the cap in order for it to be turned more easily from its great height, without a fantail. Finnish mamsel mill caps are of all shapes and varieties, and sails are made with adjustable wooden boards on both sides, mostly at angles of 17⁰ to the normal, whereby the outer sections are detachable and the inner ones fixed. Many of the mills in the Finnish collection have been fitted with dummy sails for effect, however their authenticity is not guaranteed and many are too small for the mill they have been fitted to. When the majority of these mills were built iron was a rarity, and thus mamsel mills are almost entirely built of wood. Despite this an array of designs have been used in their construction, and skilled craftsmanship plays a large part in the aesthetic of each mill.

WATERMILLS

Kytsoja watermill in Heavavesi, Savo
Kytsoja watermill in Heavavesi, Savo

Finnish watermills do not have a name other than that which is used in Britain. The mills themselves, despite them being more susceptible to decay, are largely made from fir or spruce wood, with some iron fixtures, mainly on the wheels. Some brick structures exist but they are very rare based on the abundance of forests in the provinces. The mills themselves range in size from one- to three-storeys high, and are usually boarded on the outside with shingled roofs. The millstones can be made with fixed rhynds from one of three main materials; granite, sandstone or composition (i.e. emery in cement). The bedstone is concave, with the runner stone convex, and many are not dressed in any way. The overshot type of wheel is most common due to the vast amount of water running where many of the mills are situated; particularly when the snow melts in the winter. Some of the mills are painted Falun Red, named after the copper from the Kopparberg mine in the mountain at Falun in Sweden.

MAGPIE AND CHICKEN-HAWK MILLS

Museum magpie mill in Punkalaidun, Satakunta
Museum magpie mill in Punkalaidun, Satakunta

There are two types of Finnish hollow post mill, with the most common variety being called the ‘magpie’ or ‘harakka’ mill, which has been extensively documented. The power is transmitted through a hollow central post by an upright shaft. The machinery and stones in these mills is housed in the base or substructure, and only the top section of the mill rotates. They are named as such because of the huge tailpole – which can take any position from horizontal to steeply sloping to the ground. There is also a slight variant of this type of mill in South Bothnia called the ‘chicken-hawk’ mill, which can easily be recognised. Another similar kind of mill is the composite mill, however these also have drives through hollow posts in Finland, rather than the perhaps more recognisable type with no post, and where the body of the mill is supported on the walls of the roundhouse.
 

SHINGLE AND SAW MILLS

Skeleton shingle mill on Korteiemi Farm, Letku, Tammela, Häme
Skeleton shingle mill on Korteiemi Farm, Letku, Tammela, Häme

Shingle mills in Finland drive saws or other woodworking machinery. They rose to great popularity when roofs were made from thin chips of wood, increasing demand. These mills can be driven by water or wind, and proved incredibly popular throughout the 19th century. Many mills have shingle machines in them working either as well as or instead of the traditional mill stones. A relatively common design for shingle machines in Finland is the skeleton mill type. These are constructed without any weather-boarding on the framework, but are designed in a similar way to a smock mill.


Information gathered from the Transactions of the Newcomen Society volumes XLI, XLIII, XLIV, XLV and The Mills Archive Glossary.