Nederland - Oudemolen, De Zwaluw

De Zwaluw (The Swallow) is a so called smock mill. The current mill is located nearby the hamlet Oudemolen - less than 30 houses and about 75 inhabitants - since 1837. It replaced a post mill which itself had replaced a watermill on the Drentsche Aa river.

De Zwaluw is a three-storey smock mill on a single-storey brick base. There is no stage, the sails reaching almost to the ground. The smock and cap are thatched. The mill is winded by a tailpole and winch.

From 1876 til 1947 the mill was owned by the Greving brothers, who lived in a small cottage near the mill. They milled for the bakers in the area and for the farmers who fed their cattle plenty of grain.

The mill was out if use in 1970, but since 1980, the municipality of Tynaarlo is owner of the mill and after that it was subsequently thoroughly restored. Nowadays De Zwaluw has had a group of volunteer millers to run the mill (in principle the mill is open for the public on Saturdays). The mill is listed as a national Dutch monument.