Body of the Stene Mill with miller's house

The Molen van Stene or Plaatsemolen , a brick mountain mill (or belt mill), replaced a post mill in 1852.

The hull is located at the back behind the miller's house from the second half of the 19th century , now an inn (Stenedorpstraat number 4).

In 1852, François Cornelius Vandenbussche, a miller from Stene, built this stone mountain mill. It replaced a wooden post mill that dated back to 1584 and that would have played a role as a lookout post during the siege of Ostend (1601-1604). In 1878, the mill - "constructed in bricks, well situated near the centre of the village" - was equipped with "three pairs of millstones".

The initial corn mill evolved into a combined corn and oil windmill . Since the breakage of a wing during a storm in 1927, the mill was powered by a fuel oil engine in an engine shed that was built against the hull (with at least partial excavation of the mill hill). The pump against this building provided water for cooling the fuel oil engine.

Even before the Second World War, the mechanical mill also fell into disuse . In 1978, the building was purchased by the City of Ostend . A milling restoration remained in the planning phase, only in 1982 were the crushing stones of the oil mill on the ground floor, which had been dug in at the mill, exposed again. In 1988-1990, the mill body was restored .

Inside you can still see the king pin, various wheels and the drive of the oat crusher.

Willem Vandenameele