Mill Ter Rijst

Molen Ter Rijst is a windmill in the East Flanders municipality of Herzele. It is one of the three remaining working windmills in Herzele. Construction of the mill began around 1794, but it did not start operating until 4 years later. The millhouse, built in the same style as the Tapmolen in Haaltert, dates from 1804. Before that, the miller lived in a house located about 50 meters further along the road to Grotenberge, formerly known as "Hofstede Van Daele," which completely burned down around 1910 and was later rebuilt. The total cost of the land, mill, house, and adjoining buildings was estimated at 80,000 gold francs at the time. At the end of the 18th century, during the French period, many properties and monastic goods in Flanders were seized or declared forfeited and sold publicly. This was also the case with the now long-gone wooden windmill near the church of Sint-Antelinks. The then-miller, Bernard Van Daelem (although having the necessary capital), refused or dared not buy the mill, as it was commonly said at the time, "whoever bought seized monastic or church property was doomed." So he searched for a suitable place to build a new mill, which led him to Rijstkouter in Herzele, resulting in the creation of the "Ter Rijst" mill. Due to a lack of funds, he could not complete the mill; he was not doomed in Sint-Antelinks, but he was now in Herzele. That was what the millers living in the vicinity told during that time. The unfinished mill was sold. And yet Van Daelem was the first miller at the new mill, although not as an owner, but as a guest miller. The unfinished mill was purchased in 1797 by Armand De Graeve from Haaltert, a miller’s son from the Tapmolen in Haaltert. This was a family of millers. One of them continued to live at the Tapmolen, the second owned a wooden windmill on Hoogstraat in Haaltert, a third owned the “Ter Rijst” mill in Herzele, and the fourth son owned the watermill in Mere. Thus in 1798, Armand De Graeve from Haaltert became the first owner of the Molen Ter Rijst. In 1850, the mill was inherited by his godchild, Armand De Graeve, who came to settle there with his two sons and three daughters. One of these daughters married Jean Baptiste De Pril from Grotenberge in 1871. He settled as a churchwarden in Sint-Lievens-Houtem. After the premature death of both, their seven children moved in with uncles and aunts living in Herzele, who remained unmarried. Among them was future owner Nemorin De Pril and the father of later owner Cyriel De Pril. In 1909, after the death of the last of the de Graeve line, the mill was handed over to Nemorin De Pril, the grandson of Armand De Graeve. Nemorin De Pril was married to Marie Van Der Zwalmen, who had no descendants. There, his older brother Cyriel, living in Haaltert and married to Emma Van Den Steen, died prematurely, raising his two sons, Joseph and Jules, with Nemorin De Pril. It was upon the death of the latter in 1958 that, according to his last will, the mill became the property of his godchild Joseph De Pril. Joseph is the last miller at the “Ter Rijst” mill. He is the one who saved the mill from further decay. Since 1975, the Molen Ter Rijst, which was classified as a monument in 1974, has been owned by the non-profit organization “Molen Ter Rijst Vrienden.” This association was established in 1973 with the aim of saving the heavily deteriorated mill from collapse and restoring it to working condition. In October 1978, the first restoration works began. The costs were mainly borne by the state, province, and municipality. Unfortunately, this restoration was not a success. The original goal of making the mill functional was not achieved. The legal proceedings that followed were halted by the association after ten years; it had cost a lot of money and yielded nothing in return. To put an end to the mill’s deterioration, a number of urgent repairs were necessary. In the context of a new policy of the Flemish Government regarding monument care, the organization was able to obtain subsidies again in 1993. The second restoration was indeed a success. Since September 1993, the Molen Ter Rijst has been operational again and has three pairs of grinding stones.

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