De Leumolen – English

De Leumolen

History

De Leumolen is located on the Leubeek in the Limburg nature reserve the Leudal: a water mill, with the function of a flour mill and oil mill. The oldest document mentioning ‘the mill on Loe’ dates from 1461, but the mill may be older. The mill at that time was a mud half-timbered building with only the function of a flour mill. Three centuries later, the water mill was now the property of the St. Elisabethsdal monastery, the ‘Loyer Mill’ was rebuilt in stone and expanded with an oil mill, the wall anchor year 1773 commemorates this event. The mill was purchased by Staatsbosbeheer in 1956.

Sint Ursulamolen

De Leumolen is also locally called St. Ursulamolen. The story goes that in 1796 the French occupiers threw a statue of St. Ursula, owned by the neighboring monastery, into the stream and that the Catholic saint subsequently washed up at the mill. Ursula was lovingly taken in and gave the mill her nickname. The patroness stands in a niche above the door. The original statue is located in the Historiehuis in Roermond. A new statue was installed in 1961 and was made by artist Eugène Eggen.

Functions

For centuries, De Leumolen was only a flour mill. During the major renovation in 1773, an oil mill was added, which remained in operation until the beginning of the 20th century. After restoration, oil has been minted again since 2008 and linseed oil is extracted from linseed. The Leumolen is the only water mill in the Netherlands that houses both a corn mill and an oil mill under one roof. In the 19th century, De Leumolen was also a mill where barley was ‘hulled’ into groats.