Do you know the history of our monumental windmill?
"A story that begins in the year 1810."
The Artemeersmolen, also called Bollaerts Molen, is a smock windmill dating from 1810.
The mill stands on the borders of the municipalities Poeke and Kanegem on a man made mound.
in 1882 the miller needed more space and so the mill was raised with an extra meter of brickwork. Now the mill could also take greater advantage of the wind.
In addition an oil mill was also installed on the ground floor.
In 1952 the mill was shut down. The children of miller Maurice Bollaert had little intrest in continuing the milling profession and chose the farm as a main income.
After years of decay, Dr. Luc Goeminne from Zulte bought the derelicted windmill and had it restored to it's former glory in 1975-1977 by the Peel brothers, millwrights from Gistel.
The Ruston diesel engine, used as an auxiliary power source, which was installed in a building next to the mill was removed and sold for scrap.
The mill was listed as a Grade I monument in 1985, the windmill and its surroundings are classified for its historical, industrial and archaeological values.
In 2014 the mill was bought by professional miller Mike Ekelschot.
As the mill is used to produce a wide variaty of flours for artisan bakeries, a lot of extra machines were installed:
* two centrifugal flour sifters
* two vertical mixers (1000kg)
* ribbon mixer (150kg)
* crushing mill
* roller mill
* four elevators (two for flour two for grain)
* various augers
* digital scales
* grain bins (4x 2500kg, 1x 1000kg)
* flour bins
* grain cleaner
* dust collectors
