Skovsgaard Mill

At the top of Møllebjerget

Skovsgaard Mill does not stand discreetly at the edge of the estate, but elevated in the open landscape southwest of Skovsgaard. The mill stands on a capped hill, so the walk up offers both a view of the windmill and a sense of why this particular hilltop has been used for milling for such a long time.

A mill with working machinery

It is a Dutch smock windmill with a basement, where the passageway is excavated beneath the mill and supported by fieldstone walls. From the outside, it is easy to recognise by its black-tarred cladding, onion-shaped cap, finial and fantail. During the summer season, it operates as a visitor mill, where volunteers can demonstrate how flour is milled.

The interior is not quite conventional

Inside the mill, the sifters are unusually placed on a floor above the millstones. This meant that the milled material had to be lifted up to the sifters with bucket elevators before the work could continue. The mill still contains equipment such as millstones, a small roller mill, a cake crusher and sifters, allowing the site to tell the story of a craft in which gravity, wind and iron mechanics had to work together.

The mill can be visited during holiday periods, but current opening hours are provided by Naturdestination Skovsgaard. The short Medieval Trail at Skovsgaard passes both the motte-and-bailey site and the mill.