Windmills in Eighteenth Century Finland, Kirsti Horn (2019)

Because no technical drawings exist except for the two mills on Suomenlinna, the only way to find out about the 18th century mills and milling activity in Finland is via contemporary maps and illustrations. The interior of the land had few towns and few inhabitants and towards the eastern border there was a vast wilderness. Therefore, the presented examples of this study are from three towns along the western coast: Tornio—whose attraction is the midnight sun, Uusikaupunki—best known for being the scene for the 1721 peace treaty and Turku—the capital of Finland. New fashions and inventions arrived from the west via the coastal communities, and the Swedish influence was strong here. The skilled shipbuilders, carpenters and joiners on the southwestern and western coast must have played an important role in the introduction of windmill technology in these hinterlands. The close western contacts explain why the majority of Finnish vernacular mills are similar to those that can be found in the northern countries around the Baltic Sea who also were part of the Swedish empire before the Great Nordic War.

3.1. Tornio

A view of Tornio dated 1796 shows at least one post mill with four sails on the eastern side of the river.

In 1715 the Russians burnt this town of a few hundred inhabitants but already in 1736 there were 10 mills according to a map by the scientists Outhier and de Maupertuis who spent quite some time there measuring the shape of the Earth.

Matthew Consett recorded two of the mills in Tornio together with his friends who had travelled all that way to experience the nightless night in 1789. The post mills did not develop any further from this illustration during the 19th century when they were built in thousands all over the country. Consett presented the mill too small in proportion to the people around it but otherwise it seems true to the type of mill that has survived in the western parts of the country. It seems to have a trestle of log construction, probably a timber frame with weather boarding, a thin roof made of boards resting on purlins, a sack hoist and sails unlike those that are found in the region today but identical to those in contemporary illustrations of mills in Uusikaupunki and Turku which are presented below.

3.2. Uusikaupunki or Nystad (Swe.)

On a map presenting Uusikaupunki in 1721, around the time of the peace negotiations, 9 mill symbols can be distinguished, three of which are probably ruins. The presentation is too unclear for any conclusions to be made as to their overall shape. At the time there were only 300 Finns but a whole lot of Russian soldiers and a number of participants to the negotiations in the town. Kangas (1996).

The above detail of a later map dated 1753—GRUND RITNING öfwer Sjö Staden NYSTAD—shows four of the sixteen post mills in Uusikaupunki. No details can be perceived in the schematic presentation of similar windmills as in Tornio except for the straight narrow shape of the sails and the pyramidical shape of the trestles. At the time there were no more than 500 inhabitants in Uusikaupunki.

3.3. Turku or Åbo (Swe.)

In the early 18th century there might have been a few thousand, perhaps even five thousand, inhabitants in Turku but a famine, a plague and the Russian invasion reduced the number to just over one thousand in 1721.
A map dated 1709—Delineation öfver Åbo Stapel Stad—shows that there were 51 post mills with tapering sails on the hills within the city boundaries. Kostet (2009).

Several maps of Turku from the 1750’s onwards have survived in the archives. 75 post mills are depicted on a map from 1756, called Charta öfver Stapel Staden Åbo. A close view on a group of these mills reveals a type very similar to those in Tornio in terms of overall shape and sails. Only the trestles might be different, i. e. made of quarter bars with logs underneath. (Figure 5)

A later map, Charta öfver ÅBO STAD 1808 by Joh. Tillberg has less windmills (69) although—or rather because the number of inhabitants in the city had grown to 11000 by then. (Figure 6) In fact, most mills were then built beyond the town boundaries, and there were hundreds of them before the great fire of Turku in 1827 according to a newspaper article (Sanomia Turusta, 20.1.1852).

3.4. Mills at manor houses

Some illustrations of post mills appear in late 18th century views of manor houses but possible evidence of early hollow post mills and smock mills before the first decade of the 19th century are not to be found in the digital archives of Finland. It is unlikely that there are more than a few—if any—surviving examples and judging from no attained pictorial evidence hardly any did exist in 18th century Finland. Yet, Auvo Hirsjärvi and Rex Wailes claim in their booklet on smock mills in Finland that “… it is almost certain that hollow–post and smock mills were introduced into Finland during the last half of the eighteenth century.” Hirsjärvi and Wailes (1970–71) Indeed, a few of these can be found in the illustrations by Eric Dahlberg of Swedish towns already in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Then, why not in Finland?

Five mills can be distinguished in the misty landscape painting View of Suomenlinna from the shores of Helsinki by M. N. Vorobjov: one tall mill and three smaller mills on the Suomenlinna fortification islands and most probably a smock mill on the small island to the left.

4.1 Daniel af Thunberg at Suomenlinna or Sveaborg (Swe.)

Daniel af Thunberg (1712–1788) studied theology but made a career in civil engineering, particularly in inventive design and building of waterways. When the grand project of Suomenlinna was started in 1748 he was appointed as site manager and millwright. His contribution was the design of the dry dock—one of the oldest in the world which is still in use—together with a windmill of overwhelming dimensions that pumped the water out of the dock, sawed the timbers for the ship yard and ground flour, all at the same time.

Swedish engineers made study trips to Holland but it seems Thunberg did not have the opportunity. However, he worked at Laboratorium mechanicum with Christoffer Polhem, Father of Swedish mechanics. This is where he must have learnt about the large industrial mills of Holland and perhaps copied one of those or transformed one for the special purposes on Suomenlinna. The pump that Thunberg attached to his windmill is of the type that was used in Swedish mines at the time.

The mill was moved to another island of the fortification in 1783 and finally pulled down in the 1850´s. Exact drawings for the rebuilding are to be found in the Military Archive of Stockholm while the originals by Thunberg are gone. However, there was a young assistant on the Suomenlinna building site, Adolf Eric Geete who kept a sketch book where he recorded the works and the mill, in its original settings. The sketches which still survive in the archive on Suomenlinna include also copies of a design for a post mill and a watermill by Thunberg. These are the only (!) technical drawings of windmills that we know of in Finland except for those in a book by Samuel Roos (1851) describing certain functional aspects of wind and water mills.

The height of Thunberg’s smock mill from top of masonry base structure (storage) to top of cap is ~22m, the sail span ~25m and the width of the base ~13m. (Scale 10 aln = 5,9m.) The three–storey post mill measures some 12m in height and has a sail span of some 18m. The average farm mill was less than half of this size.

Technical drawings were not actually necessary for the sort of small post mills that are the predominant type in Finland. A small wooden mill could easily be taken apart and transported by boat across the Gulf of Bothnia to serve as a model for local builders. It is also likely that millwrights came for visits to teach the locals or set up a business. This is however, academic speculation as documented evidence is very hard to find.

The oldest two surviving windmills in Finland date back to the early years of the Great Wrath. One is on Lumparland, the Åland Islands (1700–1720) and the other on the Isle of Hailuoto, in the northern end of the Gulf of Bothnia (1712). There are a few surviving later 18th century windmills in the central parts of the country, too—no systematic record exists—but the majority are situated in the South–West. More of these ancient monuments are expected to be found once the detailed surveying extends further north.

A group of 18th century post mills were visited in the south–eastern coastal areas in the summer of 2017. Sixteen of these carry a date inscribed on the post, crown tree or the downstairs wall. (Another two with a date are early 19th c.; one lacks the date but is known to be 18th c.; another six are so strikingly similar that they are likely to be contemporary with the ones that still carry a date).

Similarity in detail and structure is the common denominator of these 25 windmills. Although all post mills look very much alike and have rather uniform dimensions in this region, later mills have greater variation in their details than these do. There are several identical features in all these mills that arise the question of who their builders might have been. Clearly, these are the Mercedes Benzes among their contemporary mills: they were built to last, they were made of carefully chosen material and most of them were in use for nearly two centuries. Generally, they have also been well looked after. Except for one they contain a more or less complete machinery. Their known dates range from 1732 to 1806. They are situated in a fairly limited area of some 45 by 45 km. Several have been moved within this area but ten mills are said to stand on their original site.

A windmill was considered a personal belonging. It followed the owner in marriage or when a farm was divided between inheritors. It could also be sold. Hence, most surviving mills have been moved several times in their history and every move has brought changes in the structure. Against this back ground it is remarkable that there are very old mills that still stand on their original site and carry the details of the 18th century.

Apart from the tradition to take one’s mill along to a new home there have been two waves of moving them. The first occurred when they became redundant in more developed areas and were bought up by farmers in distant regions that lacked electricity. The second wave occurred after the second World War when they became redundant everywhere and some of the best examples were rescued into open air museums.

Unique features in the old post mills of SW–Finland:

• An extra massive frame supporting the stones with one corner cut/rounded to give easier access from the stairs to the upper floor: 25 of 25 mills. (Figures 15 and 16)
• The upper floor in front of the stones rests on the stone frame instead of crown tree: 23 of 25 mills. (Figures 15 and 16)
• A hole in the crown tree for injecting grease into the bearing. 16 of 25 mills (Figures 15 and 16)
• Carved handles on machinery or porch: 6 of 25 mills. (Figures 17 and 23)
• Carved dates, drawings, symbols, miller´s book keeping…16 of 25 with date, 9 with figures, summa 18 of 25 with carvings (Figures 12 and 18)

Surviving original parts that are usually lost when a mill is moved:

• Wooden bearing under the floor joists: 10 of 25 mills (all on their original site). This functional detail has usually gone missing when mills have been moved. (Figure 19)
• Original weather boarding: 4 mills + 1 where the owner has kept samples
• Carved ridgepole: 3 mills + 1 where the owner has kept a section (Figure 22)

Specific old features:

• Octagonal post: 8 mills.
• Corner braces of naturally bent wood in the timber frame: 3 mills. (Figure 21)
• Naturally bent wood as legs for hoppers: 5 mills. (Figures 15 and 23)
• Stairs made of a single carved log: 2 mills. (Figure 20)