mill the hercules

Rose mill The Hercules (1922)

Mill the Hercules (1922) “The Hercules” is an unmanned steal pumping engine, which is also called the rose mill because of the shape of the wind wheel.
The Hercules takes care of the water level in the Kalverpolder, situated behind the mill.
The superfluous polder water is being drained into the Ringvaart. This is done by a jack, a huge kind of screw in the concrete substructure (jack column) of the mill.

The wind wheel is driving the jack.
The big head blade and the little side blade make that the mill position adjust itself to the wind speed. The wind engine is an American invention that is taken in production in the Nederlands since 1910 and common applied here. The wind engines were made in several sizes. The Hercules is with 30 blades one of a heavy size Because of the modern pumping techniques, characteristic mills like this one have become a seldom mark of identification in the landscape.
The Hercules is a protected monument of industry and technique.