The historic windmill, Mostert’s Mill in Mowbray, Cape Town has been destroyed by the current wildfire that has hit Cape Town.
Mostert’s Mill was a historic windmill in Mowbray, Cape Town, and it was built in 1796. This was the oldest surviving and only complete windmill in South Africa, however, it is now no more.
It was initially a private mill on the farm Welgelegen, owned by Gysbert van Renen and was named after his son-in-law, Sybrand Mostert, after Van Renen’s death.
It was the first privately owned mill in Cape Town, Cape Colony. Prior to the British occupation of the Cape in the Battle of Muizenberg in 1795, only mills controlled by the Dutch East India Company were allowed.
Mostert’s Mill had ceased working by 1873 but was owned by the Mostert family until 1889 when it was sold to a Mr. Wilks, who sold it in 1891 to Cecil Rhodes.
The mill became derelict but restoration was undertaken by the Dutch millwright Christiaan Bremer. The restored mill was opened on 1 February 1936 by Dr. Lorentz, the Minister Plenipotentiary, and Envoy Extraordinary to the Netherlands. The ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister, General Hertzog, and flour was ground for the guests.
The mill was worked on occasion but it again became derelict during the Second World War. In 1986, the windshaft broke and the sails crashed to the ground.
The Vernacular Architecture Society of South Africa started a campaign to preserve the mill, leading to the formation of the Friends of Mostert’s Mill in 1993.
A further restoration in 1995 by Dunning-Bremer (who restored the mill in 1935) returned the mill to working order again at a cost of R245,000.
Check out some before and after photos of the mill below;
Source: wordpress-658228-2149802.cloudwaysapps.com
