Defrenne mill

 

Fully restored in 1990, Defrenne mill is the last circular and battered windmill in the province of Namur. Built from whitewashed brick with a bell-shaped roof in 1830 by the Defrenne family, which still owns the mill today, it has a door and windows with straight lintels. The sails of the mill were replaced after a fire in 1903 by reused components brought in from Campine. 

The mill bears exceptional witness to the use of wind power in our region. Note that it was driven subsequently by a steam engine, then was both gas-powered and operated by electricity. Originally, the sails driven by the wind would have activated the grinding mechanism through a system of timber pulleys and circular grinding stones that turned the wheat into flour.

Listed: 17-10-1962

Exceptional heritage site of Wallonia (mill)