Mill route northwest

Description

A church tower, winding dirt roads, modest long-gabled farmhouses and a wind or water mill: this is what a Kempen village looked like for centuries. The first water mills appeared in the early Middle Ages. They were often owned by the local nobility. The windmill was a beacon in the landscape. It stood far from the houses, in a place where the sails could catch the wind well. Some mills were made of stone, others of wood. The miller had a crucial role in the village. He ground grain into flour or rapeseed into smalt. Industrialization and the increasing mechanization of agriculture put an end to that. Today, the Antwerp Kempen still has dozens of grinding mills. During this Windmill Tour you will cycle past some special specimens.

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