114.The Dutch Windmill of Montagu
An extract from an article written by Andrew Hofmeyr
The article is not dated but Andrew Hofmeyr died in 1943 so the article would have been written sometime earlier.
Hier kan nog ‘n ou landmerk genoem word, naamlik ‘n ou windmeul wat jarelank gestaan het aan die voet van Kanonkop. Toe dit nie meer gebruik was nie, het daarin gewoon ‘n ou man met die naam van “Krom Jong”. Hy was ‘n ou slaaf en het meer as honderd jaar oud geword. Later het Dr. C.A. Wessels die eiedom waarop die meul was gekoop en toe die boonste gedeelte laat verwyder. Die onderste stuk kan nou nog daar gesien word aan die oostekant van die kindergarten-gebou.
Extract from an article written by Heinie Heydenrych for the October 2004 Montagu Mail
An interesting feature of this photograph is the Dutch windmill visible to the right behind the NG church Montagu, which can be seen in enlarged form in the inset picture. When enquiries were made among older members of the NG congregation recently, it appeared that there was no longer any person living who had seen the mill, but at least three people were aware that it had existed, Theo Kriel confirmed that Ben van Deventer (church koster) had mentioned the mill when he was already bedridden. The windmill stood immediately north of Joubert Street, about 20 metres west of the boundary of the present pre-primary school. The base of the windmill can be seen on the photograph below taken from Kanonkop in 1901, after the windmill had been broken down.
The windmill was most probably used for pumping water, as it is known that there is a strong underground water vein more or less where it stood. The fact that no portal containing the stairs to the gallery is visible on the eastern gable of the church, proves that the photograph was taken before the galleries were built into the east and west wings in 1906. lt is clear that the photograph must have been taken between 1881-82 and 1901, when the windmill was already gone.
This picture was found by accident in the NG church hall Montagu. The wall around the church has been removed
