Full mill Epen

A water mill is a mill that converts the flow or fall of water, for example in a stream or a river, into rotational energy by means of a water wheel , which can be used usefully.

The Epener Volmolen is a medium stroke mill. In medium stroke mills, the water is supplied halfway up the wheel ; the wheel is set in motion by both the weight and the flow rate of the passing water.
In 1761 the cloth manufacturer Johann Arnold von Clermont (1728-1795) moved to Vaals. He adheres to the Lutheran faith and is therefore thwarted in his venture by the Catholics in his hometown of Aachen. At that time, the Epener Volmolen was part of the Vaalser cloth industry , which was then in full bloom. The distance to transport the sheet by horse and carriage from Vaals to Epen and back was no obstacle for the manufacturers. Due to the location of the mill on the Geul, there was an abundance of water available for filling.
The water mill was used for a long time to 'full' woven fabrics into felt-like and strong cloth. Fulling improves the quality of woven fabric. The dust is placed in large oak vats, which are filled with a mixture of full earth (a type of clay), linseed oil, rancid butter, urine and water. Stampers, powered by the water power of the Geul, flatten the fabric. Fourteen hours later, the cloth has become felt-like, rougher and stronger .
The urine and rancid butter required for fulling were discharged into the Geul after use. It is therefore not surprising that the Volmolen was built outside the village center of Epen.
In 1872 the Volmolen was converted into a grain mill. The grain that is milled there today by volunteer millers comes from natural fields and goes to an organic livestock farm.

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