Relics are located in the historical landscape of the Drawa river.

History

The mill was built in 1895, as evidenced by the timestamp (and the initials of the owners: P.M.) on the gable end of the building and the type of the half-timbered structure of the walls with criss-crossing braces, which is characteristic of the structures from the late 19th century. The building was erected on the former site of an eighteenth-century paper mill and a later gristmill and sawmill. The then miller also had a large agricultural farm, as evidenced by the homestead: house, livestock buildings, barn, granary. The watermill used an undershot water wheel to drive a mechanical process, with a dam to hold back water and raise its level, and three sluice gates. It was a gristmill which operated with a capacity of about 3-4 tonnes per day; originally, it was fitted with sets of stones, then supported by roller grinders. Next to the mill, there was so-called “bukownik”, that is, a building equipped with devices for processing buckwheat, clover, barley seeds, and a paper mill.

After 1945, the structure was used by a private miller; in 1953, it was nationalised and incorporated into the State Agricultural Farm (PGR) of Cieszyno, then it was taken over by the Agricultural Production Cooperative in Siemczyno and operated until 1985. At that time, the mill ground about 3 tonnes of grain into rye, wheat flour and middlings per day. After closing down production, the devices were transferred to the mill in Złocieniec, and the water wheel to the power plant in Łobez.

Currently, the building remains in the form of permanent ruin and is not used.

Description

The watermill is located in the north-western part of the settlement, directly on the west bank of the Drawa river, in the vicinity of a barrage and dam. The building is part of a post-mill farmstead (no. 5) consisting of several building, located approx. 200 m. to the north of a rural road.

The building is characterised by a compact body and uniform industrial function, and is a typical example of (traditional and semi subsistence) village mills built from the second half of the 19th century. The building is styleless, but has retained the entire original half-timbered structure.

The mill was built on a rectangular floor plan sized 13 x 10 m; its front faces the yard and access road. Originally, a small building (mill worker’s house) adjoined the south wall. The interior of the mills can be accessed via two entrances: main entrance in the middle of the front wall and side entrance (to auxiliary rooms) in the south wall. The building is compact and cuboid in shape, has three storyes, a basement, and is covered with a flat gable roof; it is approx. 10.5 m high from the front and 13.5 high from the river side.

The walls feature a half-timbered structure with brick infill and are not plastered; their wooden structure is exposed. The wooden framework forms a regular lattice made of rhythmically spaced posts (18 x 20 cm), embedded in the ground plates in the lower sections, fastened with top plates in the upper sections, and combined together with two levels of transoms (one level on the third storey); and the quarters at the corners are reinforced by criss-crossing braces. All carpentry joints are pinned. The spaces between the transoms are infilled with ceramic factory bricks laid in a stretcher bond. The ceilings are made of exposed wooden beams and supported by a longitudinal crossbeam and three pillars. The roof rests on a purlin roof truss with short queen-post supports, stabilised by angle braces. It is clad with asphalt felt laid in the sections of the roof covered with boards.

All façades feature the original layout and décor based on the rhythm and checkerboard arrangement of the wooden post-and-beam structure. The façades exhibit regular axial partitions: long walls — four-axial, end walls — two-axial. The colours of all façades correspond to the natural colours of the building material, i.e., based on the contrast of the slightly blackened wooden framework with the brick (ceramic) infill of the spaces between the transoms.

The interior layout shows no significant secondary features: one- or two-room storeys, with traces of fittings used to fix propulsive devices, milling equipment or transmissions.

The structure can be viewed from the outside: from the river side and the yard — by arrangement with the owner.

compiled by Waldemar Witek, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Szczecin, 31-10-2014.

Bibliography

• Leszczełowski J., Z Siemczyna do Cieszyna - wędrówka w pięciu wymiarach. [w:] Zeszyty Siemczyńsko - Henrykowskie, T. III, red. B. Andziak, Siemczyno 2013, s. 66-85.
• Witek W., Budownictwo ryglowe w powiecie drawskim. [w:] Zeszyty Siemczyńsko - Henrykowskie, T. III, red. B. Andziak, Siemczyno 2013, s. 123-139.