Editing Windmill (section)

=== Smock mill ===
{{main|Smock mill}}

[[File:Greetsieler Zwillingsmühlen 2010.jpg|thumb|Two [[smock mill]]s with a stage in [[Greetsiel]], Germany]]

The smock mill is a later development of the tower mill, where the masonry tower is replaced by a wooden framework, called the "smock", which is thatched, boarded, or covered by other materials, such as [[roofing slate|slate]], [[sheet metal]], or [[tar paper]]. The smock is commonly of octagonal plan, though there are examples with different numbers of sides.

Smock windmills were introduced by the Dutch in the 17th century to overcome the limitations of tower windmills, which were expensive to build and could not be erected on wet surfaces. The lower half of the smock windmill was made of brick, while the upper half was made of wood, with a sloping tower shape that added structural strength to the design. This made them lightweight and able to be erected on unstable ground.

The smock windmill design included a small turbine in the back that helped the main mill to face the direction of the wind.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-27 |title=History Of Windmills: Part 2 - Windmills Tech |work=Windmills Tech |url=https://windmillstech.com/history-of-windmills-part-2/ |access-date=2023-03-29 |language=en-US}}</ref>