Balsmolen

Balsmolen is a historic stone windmill located in Schuiferskapelle, a village within the municipality of Tielt in the West Flanders province of Belgium. The mill is also known under the names Kapellemolen and Waalbosmolen, and its current name derives from the Bals family, historically associated with the structure.

When was a mill first recorded on this site?

The earliest known references to a mill at this location date back to 1632. At that time it was a classic two-storey post mill used for grinding grain, owned by the lords of the nearby Hulswalle estate during the Ancien Régime period. A document from 1638 concerning the Hulswalle estate names Caspar Bybau and Joos van Coolen as the individuals overseeing the "wyntcoornemeulen" (grain windmill), while Gillis de Hondt is recorded as the miller who ran the day-to-day operation.

How did the mill site change during the 18th century?

The Ferraris map, produced between 1770 and 1778, depicts a post mill at this spot accompanied by three parallel outbuildings positioned to the northeast. A slightly later map of Schuiferskapelle from 1776 shows a different arrangement: only two buildings set at right angles to each other, with the dwelling house standing in the same location it occupies today. This indicates that the surrounding farmstead was being reorganised during this period to suit the needs of the milling operation.

Toward the end of the 18th century, Jacobus Heyndrickx, also known by the nickname "Jaak de Bruggeling," worked as a miller's assistant at the site. He is remembered in local history as one of the leaders of the 1798 peasant uprising known as the Boerenkrijg, an armed revolt against French rule in what is now Belgium.

Who owned the mill through the 19th century?

In 1804, the farm together with its windmill was sold by César and Joseph le Vaillant, then owners of the former Hulswalle estate, to the miller Pieter Detremerie. Six years later, in 1810, the grain windmill and its associated miller's farm were purchased by Petrus Jacobus Van Gaever, a miller from Wingene who settled permanently in Schuiferskapelle. After his wife's death, the property passed to his children (after 1834), and on 18 May 1842, following a division of the estate, the mill was allotted to his son Ivo Van Gaever, who was likewise a miller in Schuiferskapelle.

What type of mill is Balsmolen today?

Balsmolen is a stone grain-and-oil windmill, although today it functions solely as a grain mill. Structurally it belongs to the "stenen grondzeiler" type — a stone ground-sailer mill built on a mill mound, an earthen embankment that raises the structure above the surrounding land to give the sails better exposure to the wind. The description of the mill's body as "the Kapellemolen, also called Balsmolen" points to the long-standing association between the building and the Bals family, from which its present name is derived.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is Balsmolen located? In Schuiferskapelle, part of the municipality of Tielt in the West Flanders province of Belgium.

How old is the mill on this site? The earliest known records of a mill here date to 1632, though its construction and surroundings have changed considerably over the centuries.

What kind of mill is it? A stone ground-sailer windmill (grondzeiler) built on a mill mound, originally used for both grain and oil, now operating only as a grain mill.

Is the mill connected to any historical events? Yes — toward the end of the 18th century it employed Jacobus Heyndrickx, one of the leaders of the 1798 Boerenkrijg peasant uprising.