Model of a Windmill

Paltrok sawmill, model, 17th century. Windmills provided cheap energy for all kinds of purposes, including sawing timber. Wood was one of the basic raw materials. Large quantities went to the shipyards, for example. A major centre of the wind-powered timber industry - as well as of many other industries - was along the Zaan to the north of Amsterdam. Here there was water for transport and wind for the mills in abundance.