Mill route on Tholen
Sint-Annaland, Stavenisse, Scherpenisse
That there are so many mills on Tholen is no coincidence, but the result of a clever combination of landscape, economy and necessity. The island was completely dependent on mills for centuries to keep life turning. Just like the mills themselves! Tholen was traditionally a distinctly agricultural island. Farmers grew large quantities of grain (wheat, barley, rye), but without modern machines that grain had to be milled somewhere. That is where the grain mills came into view. Almost every village had one, sometimes even several, so that farmers did not have to travel far with their harvest. Because Tholen is open, flat and surrounded by water, it is moreover almost always windy there. Ideal conditions for windmills therefore. Most mills on Tholen served as grain mills: they milled grain into flour for bread, porridge and animal feed. That sounds simple, but without flour no bread, and without bread no village. The miller therefore also had an important position in the community. In addition there were also polder mills (water mills), which were used to keep land dry. Tholen largely consists of polders that lie lower than the surrounding water, so without mills large parts of the island would be under water. Mills here literally provided habitable land. In the 18th and 19th century the population grew and with that also the demand for flour. That led to competition between villages and millers. A new mill meant economic power and sometimes even prestige. Villages did not want to be dependent on neighbouring villages, so they built their own mill. That explains why today you encounter relatively many (former) mills on Tholen, often close to each other. From the 20th century steam and electric motors took over the work and many mills went out of operation. Yet there are remarkably many mills preserved on Tholen. That is due to timely protection as national monument, local involvement and restorations. Nowadays they together tell the story of how people here for centuries cooperated with wind and water in order to be able to live, eat and farm.
| Directions | Distance | Total distance | |
|
Start: Havenplein , 4697 HZ Tholen | 43.8 KM | |
|
From
12
to
15
|
6017 M | 6 KM | |
| Head northwest on Molendijk | 264 M | ||
| Turn left onto Suzannaweg | 24 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Suzannaweg | 20 M | ||
| Turn right onto Molendijk | 56 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Molendijk | 61 M | ||
| Turn right onto Havendijk | 294 M | ||
| Turn left onto Havenweg | 20 M | ||
| Make a slight left | 1.8 KM | ||
| Keep right at the fork | 1.8 KM | ||
| Make a slight right | 1.6 KM | ||
| Keep right at the fork | 96 M | ||
| You are now at section 15 | 0 M | ||
|
From
15
to
14
|
5388 M | 5.4 KM | |
| Head west | 1.6 KM | ||
| Keep right onto Veerweg | 2.6 KM | ||
| Turn right onto Stoofdijk | 138 M | ||
| Make a slight left onto Voorstraat | 166 M | ||
| Turn left onto Van der Lek de Clercqplein | 609 M | ||
| Turn left | 350 M | ||
| You are now at section 14 | 0 M | ||
|
From
14
to
17
|
3818 M | 3.8 KM | |
| Head southeast | 1.4 KM | ||
| Continue straight | 74 M | ||
| Keep left onto Provincialeweg | 2.3 KM | ||
| You are now at section 17 | 0 M | ||
|
From
17
to
18
|
1126 M | 1.1 KM | |
| Head southeast on Provincialeweg | 1.1 KM | ||
| You are now at section 18 | 0 M | ||
|
From
18
to
82
|
1083 M | 1.1 KM | |
| Head south on Provincialeweg | 1.1 KM | ||
| You are now at section 82 | 0 M | ||
|
From
82
to
26
|
1899 M | 1.9 KM | |
| Head southeast on Provincialeweg | 656 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Provincialeweg | 1.2 KM | ||
| Make a slight right | 9 M | ||
| You are now at section 26 | 0 M | ||
|
From
26
to
21
|
3116 M | 3.1 KM | |
| Head east | 39 M | ||
| Continue onto Poortvlietsedijk | 887 M | ||
| Turn left onto Engelaarsdijk | 11 M | ||
| Make a slight left to stay on Engelaarsdijk | 26 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Engelaarsdijk | 2.1 KM | ||
| Make a slight right | 63 M | ||
| Turn left | 14 M | ||
| You are now at section 21 | 0 M | ||
|
From
21
to
22
|
2354 M | 2.4 KM | |
| Head northeast on Zwarteweg | 774 M | ||
| Turn right onto Roolandsedijk | 195 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Roolandsedijk | 1.4 KM | ||
| You are now at section 22 | 0 M | ||
|
From
22
to
23
|
1257 M | 1.3 KM | |
| Head southeast on Roolandseweg | 1.3 KM | ||
| You are now at section 23 | 0 M | ||
|
From
23
to
24
|
304 M | 0.3 KM | |
| Head southeast on Rijkebuurtseweg | 46 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto Puitsedijk | 258 M | ||
| You are now at section 24 | 0 M | ||
|
From
24
to
33
|
2819 M | 2.8 KM | |
| Head southeast on Peukseweg | 2 KM | ||
| Turn left onto Nieuwlandse Kruisweg | 497 M | ||
| Turn right onto Nieuwlandsedijk | 300 M | ||
| Make a slight left to stay on Nieuwlandsedijk | 59 M | ||
| You are now at section 33 | 0 M | ||
|
From
33
to
35
|
3863 M | 3.9 KM | |
| Head northeast on Groeneweg | 1.2 KM | ||
| Turn left | 196 M | ||
| Turn right onto Leguitseweg | 272 M | ||
| Turn left onto Leguitsedijk | 1.5 KM | ||
| Turn right onto Vogelsangsedijk | 677 M | ||
| You are now at section 35 | 0 M | ||
|
From
35
to
34
|
2180 M | 2.2 KM | |
| Head northwest on Hiksedijk | 105 M | ||
| Turn right onto Zeedijk | 2.1 KM | ||
| You are now at section 34 | 0 M | ||
|
From
34
to
39
|
1194 M | 1.2 KM | |
| Head southwest on Kromme Dreef | 1.2 KM | ||
| You are now at section 39 | 0 M | ||
|
From
39
to
28
|
1875 M | 1.9 KM | |
| Head northwest on Hikseweg | 1 KM | ||
| Turn left onto Vrijberghsedijk | 866 M | ||
| You are now at section 28 | 0 M | ||
|
From
28
to
31
|
2457 M | 2.5 KM | |
| Head northwest on Broeksedijk | 298 M | ||
| Keep right onto Broeksedijk | 1.3 KM | ||
| Turn right onto Priestermeetpolder | 844 M | ||
| You are now at section 31 | 0 M | ||
|
From
31
to
30
|
319 M | 0.3 KM | |
| Head west on Priestermeetpolder | 319 M | ||
| You are now at section 30 | 0 M | ||
|
From
30
to
12
|
2729 M | 2.7 KM | |
| Head northwest on Joanna Mariapolder | 561 M | ||
| Continue straight | 148 M | ||
| Continue onto Oude Zeedijk | 599 M | ||
| Keep right onto Oude Zeedijk | 1.2 KM | ||
| Make a slight right onto Spuistraat | 124 M | ||
| Turn left onto Havenplein | 60 M | ||
| You are now at section 12 | 0 M |