It is the only building of this type in this part of the region that is open to the public. At the same time, it has scientific and museum facilities in the complex of the local Village, Milling and Agriculture Memorial Chamber, together with the nearby miller’s cottage.

History of the structure

Budzisław Kościelny was first mentioned in 1356 as a knight’s property. The church, built in 1642, was demolished by the Germans during World War II. The new brick temple, designed by Aleksander Holas, was not completed until 1980.

At the end of the 19th century, there were 14 windmills in the Kleczew area, operated by 14 people. The agricultural character of the area influenced the development of the milling industry.

The post mill in Budzisław Kościelny was erected on 13 November 1858 by Roman Bresiński in Kościan (which is depicted on a wooden board placed on the internal structure of the first floor). In 1926, the mill was moved to Budzisław by the miller from Budzisław, Szczepan Mrówczyński. It was used for its original purpose until the 1970s. Later it ceased to be used and slowly degraded. On 10 December 1984 it was placed under legal protection by being entered in the register of historic monuments. In 2011 the windmill was restored with the funds obtained from the European Union under the Rural Renewal and Development programme. A building called the Miller’s Cottage was erected in its vicinity. On 3 June 2012, the windmill was named Szczepan in memory of its owner.

The windmill and the Miller’s Cottage are now a museum-cultural complex, which houses the Village, Milling and Agriculture Memorial Chamber and a branch of the Town and Community Public Library in Kleczew. The Chamber presents a photographic exhibition showing the history of agricultural culture of the region. The exhibits gathered in the collection are material evidence of the material heritage of the village. The renovated interior of the windmill houses local museum exhibits related to the history and technology of the old milling industry in the vicinity of Kleczew.

Description of the structure

The windmill in Budzisław Kościelny is located in the southern part of the village, on Słupecka St., where the local historical Roman-Catholic cemetery is located. Behind the windmill facing the street, which dominates the complex of the Village, Milling and Farming Memorial Chamber, there is the Miller’s Cottage, built in 2011, housing the main exhibition and a branch of the Kleczew library.

The windmill was built of wood in a post-and-beam structure on a brick foundation. The outer walls are covered with formwork made of vertical boards. On the ground floor there is a trestle connected with a long drawbar protruding outside the eastern wall, used for turning the windmill. Also located on this wall is an exterior wooden staircase with a porch leading to the second storey. The second and third floors house rooms used for milling grain and making flour. The entire structure is topped with a shingled gable roof with eaves protruding from the east to facilitate the vertical transport of sacks of grain to the second working floor (third storey) and with milled flour or groats from the first flour floor (second storey). The reconstructed sails were mounted on the west wall of the windmill. Particularly noteworthy are the preserved original elements of the interior of the windmill - a wing shaft with a break wheel, a trestle, and devices for sifting flour. The monument is equipped with fire protection and lightning protection systems. The successful restoration and reconstruction of the windmill in Budzisław Kościelny has made it possible to preserve the only monument of this type of industrial wooden architecture in this part of the voivodeship, an object not only accessible to visitors, but above all equipped with the scientific facilities and infrastructure necessary for its proper exhibition.

Visitor access. The exterior of the windmill and cottage is open to the public every day. The Memorial Chamber is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and the third Saturday of the month from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Complited by: Tomasz Łuczak, 28.12.2017

Bibliography

• Maluśkiewicz P., Ziemia Konińska. Przewodnik turystyczny, Konin 2002, p. 70.
• Maluśkiewicz P., Województwo konińskie, Warszawa-Poznań 1983, pp. 130-131
• http://konin.naszemiasto.pl/artykul/wiatrak-kozlak-w-budzislawiu-koscielnym-zdjecia,1948511,artgal,t,id,tm.html – accessed in December 2017
• https://pl-pl.facebook.com/Wiatrak-Szczepan-139059132899310/ – accessed in December 2017
• http://biblioteka.kleczew.pl – accessed in December 2017
• http://www.kurrcze.pl/kozlaki-wielkopolskie/125-budzislaw-koscielny – accessed in December 2017