De Salamander Sawmill, Leidschendam

Unique building, beautifully made and a wonderful landmark.

Not just any mill, the Salamander, a sawmill that still saws with the help of volunteers!

The Salamander is a sawmill in the Dutch town of Leidschendam. The mill was built in 1777 as a replacement for a burned-out predecessor from the seventeenth century. It was in operation until 1953. The rotating movement of the mill is transferred to the saw section by means of drive belts, where awnings (type connecting rods) attached to the crankshaft set the two saw frames in motion. The Salamander has a crankshaft with four cranks, but only two of them are used. The two saw frames are coupled to this. From the end of the 19th century, a steam engine was used to be able to saw even when there was no wind. This steam engine was fired with waste wood.

In the early eighties only a ruin remained of the mill. In 1985 the Stichting Opbouw Salamander (S.O.S.) was founded, which ensured that the mill was dismantled and stored. In 1989 De Salamander was rebuilt at a new location on the Vliet. Originally, the sawmill stood a bit away from the Vliet. Since October 25, 1995, the mill has been operational again, on a voluntary basis. Next to the mill is the so-called beam hole in the water, where the tree trunks are soaked before they are sawn.

Until 2004, the sawmill of the mill had a brown color, but due to the high heat absorption the paint cracked and therefore the mill needed a lot of maintenance. The sawmill has now been painted over in gray, a color that was also used for De Salamander in the past.

The mill can be visited on Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays from 14:00 to 16:00.