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Mills of Finland

A few interesting mills arranged by province

SOME MILLS TO LOOK OUT FOR

Toe mill in Brändö, Åland
Toe mill in Brändö, Åland

ÅLAND

Toe Mills

Åland consists of many islands, stretching across the Baltic almost to Sweden. Due to this, many of the toe mills there are fairly similar to Swedish ones. The bodies are mostly tall and have pitched roofs, are vertically boarded, and have parallel-sided sails, a ladder, and a long tailpole at the back. The substructure is made of timber and has a collar at the top, with the main frame built from the crowntree. The only cross-bracing appears to be the in the sill. The roofs of the mills are shingled or boarded, and there is sometimes a loading door above the main door into the mill. Most sails have a constant angle of weather of up to about 30⁰, and very long tailpoles. The double sails have detachable panels in the outer third to account for the varying strength of the wind. Saltvik Mill is the most unusual as its body is built of interlocking timbers.

Mamsel Mills

Mamsel mill in Sund, Åland
Mamsel mill in Sund, Åland

There are two corn mamsel mills in Åland, one at Finström and one at Sund, they both have a single tailpole and large wagon-roofed caps. Vertical boarding covers the mill towers. Each mill also drives a saw; the one at Sund being a single vertical saw set in a wooden frame.

Hollow Post Mills

The most common type of magpie mill, in Lemland, has a narrow body, square stone chamber and four rectangular sails with straight and narrow leading sides. The mill at Hammarland is of the chicken-hawk variety and is vertically boarded, mounted on a large rectangular building of interlocking construction which houses a saw and had openings at each end to pass the timber through.

NORTH BOTHNIA

Toe Mills

Brake wheel and lantern pinion of a toe mill in Pudasjärvi, North Bothnia
Brake wheel and lantern pinion of a toe mill in Pudasjärvi, North Bothnia

In North Bothnia, the bodies of the toe mills are built almost entirely of interlocking timbers. They are small and some had mansard roofs. The mill on the island of Hailuoto was the oldest mill seen, dating from 1712, and had been acquired by the council and moved from Islla-Potti Farm. It has a very small body and oar-shaped boarded sails. The tailpoles in North Bothnia are usually supported with a crutch at the end. There is often no brake so the lower sail is held by chains and hooks when not turning. The further north travelled, in general, the smaller the mill body. This is partially because of the sheer force of the gales they have to withstand, and is not surprising when many of the mills are the property of individual farmers who are solely responsible for them. Toe mills are far more common than mills of any other type in Finland, and many mills are moved when sold. Toe mills of this type do not have a crowntree, and the weight of the mill is held by an iron-faced collar above the substructure. For stability, the post rises from the clasp-arm frame up into the mill and through another clasp-arm substructure – level with the second floor. This structure means that there is no chance of the top of the post being broken off in a gale; something that this province is susceptible to. Another precaution taken is having a wooden cap in order to better protect the sails. Taipaleenharju Farm Mill in Pudasjärvi has a compass-armed brake wheel with four arms and five cants, something not seen elsewhere. Stone casings were usually octagonal and the furnishings varied. One 50 in. diameter stone of red granite from a quarry near Turku was resting outside Mälskä Farm.

SOUTH BOTHNIA

Toe Mills

Mamsel mill in Ilmajoki, South Bothnia
Mamsel mill in Ilmajoki, South Bothnia

The size of the toe mills in South Bothnia varied greatly. At least one small foot mill at Mantila Farm, Itäkylä, Lappajärvi, is vertically boarded with the boards overlapping. One of the largest mills is the saw mill at Korsnäs. This mill no longer exists, but could only be turned very slightly towards the wind. The mill at Ojajärvi, Jalasjärvi is one of the smallest seen. It belongs to Linnusmaa Farm, and the mill only had one floor. There were eight sails when the mill was in use, however these have now been removed. Sails varied in South Bothnia; some are double sided and have a straight taper for about two thirds of their length and are parallel. Others, for example at Korsnäs, are similar on the driving side but straight and narrow on the leading side. Others are unequal and double with a straight taper for two thirds of the way, the rest being reverse-tapered. ‘Spider sails’ can be found on occasional mills, for example on the mill at Ähtävä. Nivala mill is small and has eight oar-shaped sails mounted on the windshaft. The substructure of the mill at Narpes is completely boarded and the sails have a narrow leading edge and curved trailing edge.

Mamsel Mills

Mamsel mill in Replot, South Bothnia
Mamsel mill in Replot, South Bothnia

There is a very small mamsel mill at Ilmajoki with eight sails, twin tailpoles, and a sloping roof. A different mill also has a braced tailpole (in the Dutch fashion) and no sails. The tower has vertical boarding and below the curb are curved (fish-bellied) timbers at each “quarter” of the tower. Ranta-Opas Farm Mill at Oppaankylä, Kurikka, had ten sails, twin tailpoles and a cuboid penthouse cap. It ran two pairs of stones. There are two mills at Ylimarkku (Övermark), one of which appears to be unique; it has six sails braced to a bowsprit, a very thin braced tailpole and a flattened octagonal cap with a curved dormer to house the front of the windshaft. There is a finial with weather vane, and a shallow petticoat painted white. The tower is squat, vertically boarded, and with a wooden drip board all around, at about 4 ft. 6 in. from the ground. There is no record of Replot (Raippalnoto) Mill with sails, but it has a vertically boarded petticoat with a horizontally boarded tower on at least one side, and vertically boarded on at least two. The only complete mamsel mill seen in South Bothnia is at Törnavä, Seinäjoki. It was built in 1886 and moved twice. The mill now belongs to the local Museum Society, and is painted Falun Red. The cap is a hexagonal cone with a finial and weather vane with ‘OMV 1886’ inscribed on it, which stands for Östermyra Factory Co. It has two pairs of granite stones and at one time also had a shingle machine. In South Bothnia, the leading sides of some of the sails are straight and narrow, with six or eight being the average number. Kurikka Mill once had ten sails.

Hollow Post Mills

The typical South Bothnian magpie mill has a slightly elongated body built from interlocking timber balks and has a shingled roof. A few of these mills have pyramidal roofs, some are vertically boarded; two have gambrel roofs and two have long narrow boarded bodies. Ylistaro Mill, dated 1857, is similar in proportions to an English post mill. The most unusual mills were at Kuortane where the first floor of the body was overhung at the breast, and at Ammesmäki Farm, Lappajärvi where the body was overhung at both the breast and tail. Most magpie mills have four sails, however there was one with six sails at Kuortane, one with twelve sails at Kauhajoki, four ten-sailed mills and seven eight-sailed mills. The shapes of these mills varies considerably too, with some straight and some slightly curved, some equal and some not, and some with the leading side straight and narrow. All sails are boarded. It appears that most of the mills have a single tailpole, although some have twin tailpoles that join in a V or Y shape. Others have triple tailpoles; one from each side and one from the roof ridge. Magpie mills have a stone chamber rather than a ’roundhouse’, in which the drive down through the hollow post ends usually with a single pair of stones. Sometimes there is a shingle machine or a small saw mill. Most are constructed in the octagonal shape, with a finial and outer covering of vertical boarding. Both tapering and parallel sides are common, however. Övermark Mill had a clasp-arm frame at ground level, and the timbers projected beyond the corners of the square roundhouse; these had been protected with boarding. Most of the ladders used to reach the body of the mill are portable, with access granted by walking up the roof. Some mills had fixed ladders, however, as at Ylistaro Mill. The ‘chicken-hawk’ variety of hollow post mills (named after the buzzard, Astur Palumbarius) have distinctive steeple-like roofs springing from the shallow line of the main roof. All have square stone chambers, but otherwise they have the more usual variations the same as magpie mills. All chicken-hawk mills were in South Bothnia except the single one in Hammarland, Åland. There is an eight-sailed mill at Kauhava and at Hautanen Farm, Rannanjärvi village, in Ylihärmä parish. These mills have buildings beside them to house shingle-making machines.

Composite mill in Sideby, South Bothnia
Composite mill in Sideby, South Bothnia

Composite Mills

There are two composite mills in South Bothnia; Närpo Mill, and a mill in Siipyy. The former has a smock mill base with a hollow post mill body on top of it. There are no sails or tailpole and there are two floors in the lower portion of the mill. At Siipyy there are two floors in the lower portion of the mill, tapering, and an upper portion that is octagonal with an octagonal pyramidial cap. Each of the two portions have about equal overall heights. The upper portion has a tailpole at the rear sloping down to the ground; it carries six equal-sided, tapering, and slightly curved sails on a fairly light metal cross. Both portions of the body are vertically boarded and therefore presumably framed.

CENTRAL FINLAND

Toe Mills

There were very few toe mills in Central Finland, however their size varied considerably. A mill at Saarijärvi was completely clad with vertical boarding and had a loading door on the first floor at the tail. There is also a much smaller mill at Sumiainen which has a ladder frame fixed to the breast behind the sails. One mill at Kivijärvi has a front platform and support for the windshaft, with a very low substructure protected by a pettiocoat. All mills here have double-sided sails, curved outwards to the centre and then inwards to the tip. The one exception, though, is at Kinnula Farm, where the sails are straight tapering on the outer half, and its base is stone-weighted.

Toe mill in Urjala, Häme
Toe mill in Urjala, Häme

HÄME

Toe Mills

At Häme, toe mills are not that common, however there was a well-proportioned conventional mill at Iitti with a pent roof and a protected substructure. This mill has single sided sails which curve outwards and then inwards towards the tip. It appears to have a loading door. The substructure has doubled crosstrees and doubled conventional quarterbars, not built up. The toe mill at Urjala is preserved and has been the only mill seen turning. The mill is small and of interlocking timber construction, protected at the corners, with a pitch roof and a very long tailpole supported by a crutch at the end. The sails are double-sided and equal, with a straight taper from the inner end to the tip. The substructure is of the conventional laminated style and levelled on rocks. A portion of the trailing end of the sails can be removed when required. There is a single pair of stones in the mill on a hurst on the first floor, and they have a ladder going up to them.

Mamsel Mills

Ruovesi Parish Museum magpie mill, Häme
Ruovesi Parish Museum magpie mill, Häme

This is the only province where mamsel mills have single-sided cloth-spread common sails. Mervi Manor Estate, in Hattula, has a covered look-out stage replacing the cap but no sails or tailpole; the mill dates from 1885. Its tower is 33 ft. 6 in. high to the curb, 23 ft. across on the ground floor, and 11 ft. 10 in. diameter at the curb – which was live with iron rollers. The windshaft is now a sham one, but the other original machinery is there. The mill has two granite stones, 3 ft. 8 in. diameter, with octagonal casings. The second mill at Hattula is on Vesunta Manor, and is derelict and with no sails, however the internal machinery is intact. The Janakkala Open Air Museum is in very poor condition and considerably vandalised. While the sails and windshaft remain, the braced tailpole has gone and there is nothing left intact above the first floor. Orivesi Museum Mill, dated 1845, was moved from Mattila Farm, Päilahti village. The mill is of the Häme type and the sails have narrow leading boards. Lepaa Mill in Tyrväntö stands in the State Gardeners’ School and has small sham common sails. It is completely gutted except for the windshaft, and the tower and cap are shingled and painted Falun Red. The tower is 46 ft. high and 21 ft. across the ground floor and the windshaft has a granite neck and tail bearings, however the neck and tail journals are unlikely to be the originals. This mill contrasts with Mr. Jan Holmberg’s at Haukila Manor Estate Mill, Valkeaikoski, also in Tyrväntö parish, as this mill is complete except for the sails which are cloth-spread with narrow leading boards, and turned anti-clockwise. The upright shaft is octagonal and made of pine wood, carrying the clasp-arm great spur wheel on the ground floor.

Hollow Post Mills

Magpie mill moved to local museum at Ruovesi, Häme
Magpie mill moved to local museum at Ruovesi, Häme

The six magpie mills visited by Rex and Auvo in Häme include Metsämäa Museum Mill, moved from Loyttymäki Farm, Murto village, Ruovesi Museum Mill, moved from Virrat, Somero Museum Mill, moved from Niitymäki Farm in Korpi, Metsämäa, Satakunta. The other three are Lakarinharju Camping Ground mill, Virrat, moved first from Heikkala to Kurjankylä, Vikelä Farm Mill, Taivalpohja, Ylöjärvi, repaired in 1964 by the local Museum but not moved, and finally Ypäjä Farm Mill, moved from Vanha-Seppälä Farm, in the same parish. The body of Virrat Mill is inaccessible. Somero and Ypäjä are of the Ypäjä type, which probably originated from the Punkalaidun Parish, Satakunta. The others are all different in appearance. The bodies of these mills are small at only 12 ft. 6 in. high, with the overall height of the mill being just under 23 ft. they have vertical frames and boards with square stone chambers, which have interlocking timbers. The tailpoles are horizontal with two handling poles, which, when not in use, serve as props. Sails are straight with sides tapering ouitwards; they have equal driving and trailing sides. Ruovesi Mill has a small elongated body of interlocked construction, at 11 ft. 6 in. high, with a 14 ft. stone chamber and six curved sails. They are equal-sided and the mill has twin tailpoles. Virrat Mill stands near the lake at Lakarinharju. The interlocking construction of the stone chamber has been covered with vertical boarding and has fake sails. Vikelä Farm Mill has a pyramidial roof and an octagonal stone chamber with a turfed roof. The span of the sails is around 30 ft. and there is a single sloping tailpole. Petäjävesi in Northern Häme has an unusual mill although no details are known other than those shown in a photograph. It is of block house construction and has a square body and stone chamber of interlocked timber construction. The mill has spider sails.

NORTH KARELIA

Toe Mills

The toe mills in North Karelia are of a distinct type, and the majority reside in the large parish of Pielisjärvi. Their timber base rests on a foundation of stone and has a track on its upper face. This runs skids attached to the body of the mill. The post has no crowntree, and instead passes through the usual clasp-arm frames from bottom to top. Most of the mills have a side entrance, and while some have an interlocking timber construction, others are framed and boarded; not necessarily square-based. The mill in Nurmijärvi was built in 1750 on a 1430 site, Hattu Mill was dated 1867, Viensuu Mill dated 1873/4, Pankakoski Mill dated 1880 and the mill at Vuomislahti was built in 1896. There does not appear to have been a significant change in design since that time.

SATAKUNTA

Toe Mills

The local museum toe mill in Pöytyä, Varsinais-Suomi
The local museum toe mill in Pöytä , Varsinais-Suomi

There are not many toe mills in the province of Satakunta, however the few there are of the conventional type with double sails, straight-sided and tapering outwards, with a conventional post and crowntree and the substructure weighted with stones. The mill at Alastaro was like this, and rye was seen to be being cut with sickles here. The Saarelainen Farm mill in Kaulainperä, Pöytyä, was much smaller, however is considered to be the best-looking toe mill with a pictorial record. The mill has, however, disappeared. It was of interlocking timber construction and has a shingled roof, a full-width porch also shingled, and a ladder to the left of the tailpole. It has single-sided sails tapering outwards to the tip.

Mamsel Mills

Stones from Palonperä Mill, Savo
Stones from Palonperä Mill, Savo

While the ‘normal’ type of sails are straight sided and taper outwards towards the tip, Vaani Estate Mill at Eura has rectangular equal sided sails. It has vertical weather boarding painted Falun Red, and has twin tailpoles. Palonperä Farm Mill in Korpi village, Metsämaa parish, was moved from the adjacent Humppila in Häme, where it stood on Vauhko Farm, Koivisto village. It has a short stout tower, and twin tailpoles turned the cap. It had a flared petticoat and a gable over the neck of the windshaft which carried six sails. Much of the tower had flat galvanised iron sheets covering the vertical weather boarding. There is a wooden brake wheel and wallower, and at the base of the upright shaft a clasp arm great spur wheel which drives two pairs of stones on the floor above. Attached to its underside is a wide wooden pulley of almost the same diameter, which drove a third pair of stones. The underside of this pulley carries a slightly bevelled ring of wooden cogs which drove the now absent machinery.

Hollow Post Mills

There are fifteen magpie mills in Satakunta, of which eight conformed to the South Bothnian type. At Karvia there are five, all of which have elongated bodies of interlocked construction, three have eight sails and one has lost its sails – but all four have square stone chambers with hipped corners. A fifth mill has also lost its sails and has a large stone chamber. One mill at Parkano was generally similar and also has a horse-driven pug mill in the foreground, working for the local brickworks. A magpie mill at Kihniö was again similar, but only had six sails. There are four mills of the Häme type with small norrow bodies; Metsämaa, Loimaa and two at Punkalaidun. One of the latter two is now at the Open Air Museum at Seurasaari in Helsinki. Siikainen Mill is not dissimilar to an English post mill with a body and stone chamber in proportion, a sloping single tailpole and four single-sided sails with stocks, whips and leading boards, although the driving sides of the sails are curved. Nakkila also has a well-proportioned mill; it has a large cubical body topped with a pyramidial roof, a tailpole at a steep angle down almost to the ground, and posts set round the mill for winding. It has an octagonal stone chamber and equal-sided straight-tapering sails with stocks.

Composite Mills

Magpie mill in Punkalaidun, Satakunta
Magpie mill in Punkalaidun, Satakunta

There are also two composite mills in Satakunta, making up the four in total. The composite mill at Punkalaidun consists of two octagonal chambers, of which the upper one is slightly smaller than the lower which contains the stones. Both are of interlocking timber construction. The top portion is moved by a single inclined tailpole with two handling poles, shown in the photograph but not in the drawing of the mill; they were used as props to the ground. The second composite mill at Punkalaidun had a general resemblance to the one at Siippy in South Bothnia. The mill belongs to the Open Air Museum.

SAVO

Toe Mills

Toe mill in Pernaja, Uusimaa
Toe mill in Pernaja, Uusimaa

There does not appear to be a regional type of toe mill in Savo. The museum mill at Juva is completely inaccessible, however it is of interlocking timber balk construction with a side entrance and a very low substructure. The equal-sided sails are tapered and very slightly curved. The mill at Maaninka has single-sided narrow sails and a driving side tapering outwards. There is a long tailpole supported by a crutch and a clasp-arm substructure with very long crosstrees. Pieksämäki’s mill is similar but has a window at the rear. The mill in Nujala, Hankasalmi shows the sails braced to the nose of the windshaft and a single pair of stones mounted on a hurst on the first floor. Sääminki has a Karelian type mill, but with different sails, curved first outwards and then back inwards again. The last three mills no longer exist.

Hollow Post Mill

The mill in Pielavesi has a tall vertically boarded body with a gambrel roof, equal oar-shaped sails, and a platform built out from the base of the breast to carry a support, on a ladder, for an outboard bearing at the extreme end of the windshaft. It is the only known hollow post mill to have this arrangement. It has a square stone chamber and a boarded roof.

UUSIMAA

Toe Mills

Millstones and wallower in a toe mill in Pernaja, Uusimaa
Millstones and wallower in a toe mill in Pernaja, Uusimaa

The Artjärvi parish museum mill in Ratula Manor Park has no sails or tailpole, and does not have a proper substructure. The 19 ft. 4 in. high mill has been moved several times. It is used as a museum of bygones, however there are no labels or displays, and everything is now very dirty or rusty. The Bökars Estate Mill in Gaddrag in Porvoo is a reconstruction of the old mill that once stood on the site. The reconstruction was built in 1934 but the sails and tailpole are missing. Unusually, the post is built up of sixteen pieces, there is a 21 ft. octagonal roundhouse, an the underdrive for the stones is through two cast-iron spur-gears. Tentering is by means of an iron lever and rod going up to a hand wheel just above the level of the stone floor. It is a well-built mill, although it gives the impression that it was built by a millwright more used to the design and construction of a watermill. In the Naitonal Museum in Helsinki there is a woven rug dated 1820 that shows two conventional toe mills side by side on a patterned ground.

Mamsel Mills

Scene of a lake with boats in Loviisa, Uusimaa, with a toe mill in the distance
Scene of a lake with boats in Loviisa, Uusimaa, with a toe mill in the distance

Lapinjärvi mamsel mill has a chicken-house triangular cap with single-sided sails which are now missing but had eight bays. The first six bays from the centre are boarded; the two outer bays of each sail are shown with the remains of sail cloths. There are a variety of different caps to the mills in Uusimaa, particularly at the Open Air Museum in Kirkkonummi. There are also three mills at Bromarv, one with rectangular sails and all three with shallow conical caps and round sloping petticoats. The mill at Lappträsk has a cap like a pitch-roofed chicken house and twin tailpoles but no sails. The cap roof is shingled and the rest of the mill vertically boarded. Andersson’s Mill in Loviisa, dated 1824 on the weather-cock, was given to the town by Mr. Baumgartner who moved it to the present site on the highest point above the town. Five or six mills once stood on this rocky site. It has fake sails and the multi-angular cap is shingled. The tower is vertically boarded and painted Falun Red. The mill is 28 ft. 8 in. across the base with a cross-based frame, and the cap turns with a hand winch with holes for capstan bars. There are two pairs of 4 ft. diameter granite underdrift stones on the first floor, from which the stone furnishings have been removed; all thrust bearings are of the pot and pintle variety.

Hollow Post Mills

The mill in Porvoo Rural is the only hollow post mill in Uusimaa. It has a tall narrow body of medium size and a gambrel roof; this stands well above the stone chamber below exposing the square hollow post. The body is framed and horizontally boarded while the stone chamber is of interlocked timber construction with a boarded roof.

VARSINAIS-SUOMI (FINLAND PROPER)

Toe Mills

Aerial view of Säkylä, Varsinais-Suomi
Aerial view of Säkylä, Varsinais-Suomi

There are very few typical toe mills in Varsinais-Suomi, making them difficult to find and describe. These mills are usually vertically boarded with a small floor area and very long crosstrees. The whole substructure is protected by a deep petticoat, and there is a long tailpole and small porch on many. The sails are double-sided, straight tapering, and the outer half of the trailing side can be left open if required. The toe mill in Säkylä is well-preserved for this type, with a pent roof porch painted white with white-painted timbers in the corners. The body of the mill is painted Falun Red. The post is large and the mill has a single pair of stones driven through a compass-armed headwheel. The other mill is at Uusikaupunki, in the park, with two mamsel mills and a hollow post mill nearby.

Mamsel Mills

Mamsel mill in Turku, Satakunta
Mamsel mill in Turku, Satakunta

In this province, straight sided equal tapering sails were the rule. The mills at Angelniemi had eight and at Askainen four sails, both with bowsprits. There were three mills at Askainen, one at each of the farms MauloTättänäinen, and Tynilä. Each mill there had four sails, with two having light iron bowsprits. The caps were of the penthouse type and had deep vertically boarded petticoats and finials, being turned by twin tailpoles joined at the bottom. The short, steeply battered, towers with vertical overlapping weather boards were tarred, and the caps were covered with shingles, as is the custom. Laitila has ten recorded mamsel mills, each of them quite different. One was a wind-powered saw mill not dissimilar in aesthetics to a rectangular water tank on an open frame with a wagon roof. The remainder vary in proportion and detail; all had short towers, twin tailpoles and hexagonal pentroof caps with vertical petticoats, shingled roofs and most had sphere ended finials. Petticoats to the caps, which are in fact the cap walls, varied from vertical overlapping weather boarding and horizontal boarding to interlocking timber constructions which went with shingled towers. Tapani Farm in Katinhäntä (Cat’s Tail) village had a mill with vertical boarding throughout. A mill moved from Rauma in 1909 is known as a Kehäsiipimylly (‘circular sailed’) mill, although the term ‘spider sailed’ may be more apt as they appear like a web. The framework consists of eight main arms, and each section has two subsidiary arms. There are four bracing laths to each section, so it forms three concentric octagonal frames. The innermost part looks similar to an early American wooden ‘fan wheel’, and is angled for clockwise rotation. Each of the eight main arms is braced with iron rods to an iron bowsprit. The span of the sails is just over 32 ft. and at the bottom point is 50 in. from the ground. The mill body is 24 ft. high and the ground floor is 16 ft. 6 in. across, while the diameter at the dead curb is 9 ft. 8 in. The cap is centred by the extended cant-posts and is octagonal, coned with a round petticoat. In this mill the gearing is all wood. There is only one pair of sandstone stones at 3 ft. 10 in. diameter, which are underdrift and on a heavy wooden hurst above the ground floor. The brake wheel is smashed. The mill at Angelniemi on Topjoki Manor is the only brick tower mill known. It is on a steeply sloping site with a stone base below ground level. The tower is short and there are eight straight-sided tapering sails braced to a bowsprit and the usual Uusimaa cap.

Turku Mill is unique in its position and its composition; set on high ground near the river with trees on one side and an open air theatre on the other, it is the last of over one hundred mills that once served the city. It was built in 1860 for Captain Andersson, a retired skipper, by German millwrights, and is now preserved by the city. This is also the case with the millhouse and bakery which has been famous for its gingerbread until the turn of the century. The mill measures 28 ft. across inside, and the tower tapers to 17 ft. diameter at the curb. The domed cap is 20 ft. 8 in. diameter with curbed dormers, front and rear. The overall height is 58 ft. The mill’s tower is boarded, covered with shingles, and painted Falun Red. The cap is now covered with roofing felt, and four sails are braced to a modern bowsprit. Originally they were almost certainly cloth-spread from a wooden stage around the mill. This is the only mill known to have a stage. The cap is turned by hand from the third floor using an iron crank of 21 in, and the brake wheel is made of iron, allowing three pairs of granite stones to turn, driven direct from the great spur wheel on a high plinth on the third floor. “This is certainly the best built and most advanced mill in Finland”, according to Rex Wailes and Auvo Hirsjärvi. In 1890 Mr. Antti Koski of Koski Farm, Makkarkoski village (‘sausage rapid’) Oripää parish, visited Turku. He saw the mill there and on 13th June 1894 commissioned his own mill built with the same principles and a similar design.

Louhisaari Manor Mill in Askainen, Varsinais-Suomi
Louhisaari Manor Mill in Askainen, Varsinais-Suomi

Hollow Post Mills

There are four hollow post mills in Varsinais-Suomi. The three at Karjala, Kemiö and Sauvo are relatively similar to the ones at Somero; small and narrow. The fourth mill is preserved at Uusikaupunki. It was built in 1838 and brought to its present home from Rauma Town, Satakunta. It has a cubical body with a pyramidial roof with a spiked finial. The stone chamber is octagonal and there is a single almost horizontal tailpole. The sails are equal and straight-sided, tapering outwards, and the mill is painted Falun Red.


Information gathered from the Transactions of the Newcomen Society volumes XLI, XLIII, XLIV, XLV