Craftsmanship with water
The most famous building in the Geul valley is probably the Volmolen near Epen. The mill was part of the Vaals cloth industry. Due to the location of the mill on the Geul, there was a lot of water available for fulling, the felting of wool. There was no such large amount of water in the area around Vaals.
Fulling improves the quality of woven wool cloth. The cloth is placed in large oak vats, which are filled with a mixture of fulling earth (a type of clay), linseed oil, rancid butter, urine and water. Stampers, driven by the water power of the Geul, press the cloth flat. Fourteen hours later, the wool cloths have become felty, rougher and stronger.
The smell of the Geul
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 centre of Epen!
Grain mill
Around 1870, the Volmolen was converted into a grain mill. The Volmolen functioned as a "flour factory" for decades. This large-scale approach to grain milling, including the distribution of the flour to local bakers, has been phased out. Nowadays, the volunteer millers demonstrate the craft on a small scale by milling grain from natural fields during regular opening hours.
The complex is located between the Geul and a dug mill branch. In the mill branch, water is dammed up to increase the drop of the water at the water wheel. The buildings, a mill house and a farm with attached barns, are located around a courtyard.
The facades of the mill house are striking, which are built from various types of locally occurring rubble stone. The brickwork and joint mortar are made of a sandy lime mortar with a typical yellow-brown colour, which is typical of the region due to the use of locally extracted sand. The bakehouse also has facades of rubble stone. This bakehouse is located on the other side of the mill branch due to the risk of fire. The baking oven is still present inside.