In the Slagmolen, 'smout' (oil) is still extracted from rapeseed oil using an ancient and impressive artisanal process.
History of the mill
A first mention of an oil mill or 'hammer mill' in Lille dates back to 1465. Originally, the mill was located several hundred metres down the road. In 1830, one Jan Wouters, a farmer, bought The Slagmolen. He had it dismantled and transferred to his farm: the place where the mill still stands today.
On 1 January 1836, the hammer mill suffered a severe fire. The century-old millstones cracked due to the heat, and new ones were brought in from East Flanders. These millstones were exceptionally large for the Kempen region. Each has a weight of 3,500 kg and a diameter of 2.30 metres, making them probably the largest millstones in Benelux.
The hammer mill remained in the name of the Wouters family until 1900, when Maria Catharina Wouters married Jef Goossens, who became the next hammer miller. During World War I (1914-1918), the horses were requisitioned by the German occupiers, and they were forced to power the mill with a gas engine. In 1922, the mill was reinforced, and a second cast-iron hammering bench and a grain mill were added.
In 1938, son Louis took over the business. World War II (1940-1945) marked a high point, but also the sudden end for the oil mill. One evil night, the German authorities had the mill sealed.
In the 1950s, Louis Goossens was forced to shut down the mill for good due to changing eating habits and competition from industrial oil extraction companies. Louis, like his mother, found it hard to part with the mill, so almost all the parts have been preserved. A request by Dr Jozef Weyns, the great inspiration and curator of Bokrijk open-air museum, to transfer the hammer mill to the museum was kindly but firmly refused.
In 1985-1986, renovations were carried out, and we're now pleased to note that the hammer mill will be preserved for posterity. After a closure in September 2018, under the impetus of the non-profit organisation 'Vrienden van de Slagmolen' (Friends of the Hammer Mill), the mill was restarted on 30 May 2021. The mill is still owned by the Goossens family.
Visiting the mill
The Slagmolen can be visited from May to September every second and last Sunday of the month.
From October to April every last Sunday. From 13:00 to 17:00.
Visits by schools and groups are possible on request.
Contact details:
Broekzijstraat 24-26,
2275 Lille
Tel: +32 14 88 16 36
info@slagmolen-lille.be
Lille Tourism Association has created a low-lying pasture mill walk on the Kempen Beemden numbered-node trail network that connects Lille's two mills, The Slagmolen and the In Stormen Sterk grain mill.
Under the hammer mill walk
