Post Mill

Timeline

1. 1371–1374Norfolk · East AngliaThe eastern plains of England had plentiful wind; post mills used a massive oak post as an axis, around which the upper mill house could be turned by hand to face the wind. Millers paid a mill tax to their lords, and peasants were required to bring their grain to the windmill for grinding, making the post mill an indispensable power facility of the rural manor economy.
2. 1374–1377Coastal lowlands of Flanders · Low CountriesIn the low-lying regions of Flanders and the Netherlands, post mills were used not only for grinding but also to drive drainage pumps to reclaim land from water. The windmill sails drove chain buckets or paddle wheels through gearing, discharging standing water into rivers, allowing polder agriculture to expand in the 1370s and extending windmill technology from grain processing to water management.
3. 1377–1380Northern Germany · GermanyRural areas around Hanseatic cities and port towns also built post mills, and mill craftsmen moved between northern Europe and Germany, spreading construction techniques. By the late 1370s, windmill gear and sail designs were becoming standardized, laying the technical groundwork for the development of fixed tower mills (smock mills) in the fifteenth century.