The design of these mills adapts perfectly to the physical environment of the place where they were conceived, Holland. The lower part, the plinth, used to be built with tree trunks or bricks, an extremely stable configuration that reduces the pressure exerted on the ground, avoiding individually cementing the support of the ribs that make up the structure. The wooden construction reflects the tradition of an area where stone is scarce, providing lightness to the structure (a fundamental characteristic in the swampy terrain where they used to be installed) and adequate resistance to the mechanical loads generated by the moving blades and the rotation of the upper floor. At the same time, the wooden structure greatly simplifies the assembly of the mill mechanisms (also made of wood), using simple hardware.[6]​.

The polygonal shape in plan is an ingenious compromise between adopting a circular section (minimizing the wind resistance of the tower) and facilitating the construction of the walls using flat planks placed horizontally between the wooden ribs arranged at the vertices of the polygon. Furthermore, the greater the number of sides of the polygon, the simpler it is to insert into the building the circular ring on which the upper section rotates.

The configuration of the mill's elevation also responds to functional issues, combining a very wide base (necessary to guarantee its stability against overturning) with an increasingly thinner shaft as it rises, minimizing the obstacle posed by the body of the building to the passage of air through the blades. This reduction in the width of the top is also motivated by the need to minimize the weight of the mill roof (and therefore its size), making it rotate more easily.[6]​.

The mechanisms (gear wheels, axles, pulleys...), similar to what occurred in the large ships of the time, were made of wood with iron reinforcements. The blades (normally 4, although other arrangements are known, such as that of the famous Chimney Mill designed in England by the engineer John Smeaton, which had 5 blades) were usually made up of a wooden framework that was both resistant and light, covered with thick canvas (sometimes called "sails") to collect the wind.[10]​.

Another fundamental element is the exterior wooden stringers, which allow the blades to be oriented towards the wind. In the first stage, when the height of the towers no longer allowed the orientation of the roof to be managed with the stringer system from the ground, the solution of adding a perimeter gallery to the mill at mid-height was resorted to in order to be able to manage them. Later, an auxiliary blade system (compass rose) was invented to automatically orient the windmill towards the wind. The moving head of the mill (lid or bonnet), where the axis of the blades is inserted, rotates on a flat metal ring using wheels (originally made of wood and later made of steel), although in the most primitive models the rotation was achieved by sliding two polished wooden rings lubricated with soap.

The largest flour mills had numerous interior levels, which housed both the grinding mechanisms and the different rooms dedicated to the storage of cereals and flour, including in many cases a house for the miller. According to the graph on the right, a typical distribution consisted of the following parts:.

The floors below the gallery often differ, depending on the type of mill and the number of floors, and form the substructure. When they have a gallery, often only the number of floors located below is counted, which does not correspond to the real number of floors. In addition to the static advantages over windmills of older architecture, this design implied more space in the building to accommodate other machines and allowed the blades to be placed higher, increasing their energy efficiency. The force was transmitted from the shaft of the blades through a "comb" toothed wheel, meshed with another wheel attached to a vertical axis of rotation. This main drive train allowed all types of machines to be connected. Mills designed to dewater polder used an Archimedean screw to lift water from the ground to drainage channels. They could also function as sawmills, adding lateral crankshafts to the central axis, converting the rotary movement into a vertical reciprocating movement applied to the saw blades.[11]​.

Blades to ground:.

With socket:.

From mound:.

With wine cellar:.

With gallery:.

With tower:.

Mixed forms:.

There are numerous preserved specimens in continental Europe, especially in the Netherlands, northern Germany and Denmark, as well as in England, particularly in the county of Kent.

The Netherlands has more than 1,200 listed mills (see List of mills in the Netherlands).

The design of these mills adapts perfectly to the physical environment of the place where they were conceived, Holland. The lower part, the plinth, used to be built with tree trunks or bricks, an extremely stable configuration that reduces the pressure exerted on the ground, avoiding individually cementing the support of the ribs that make up the structure. The wooden construction reflects the tradition of an area where stone is scarce, providing lightness to the structure (a fundamental characteristic in the swampy terrain where they used to be installed) and adequate resistance to the mechanical loads generated by the moving blades and the rotation of the upper floor. At the same time, the wooden structure greatly simplifies the assembly of the mill mechanisms (also made of wood), using simple hardware.[6]​.

The polygonal shape in plan is an ingenious compromise between adopting a circular section (minimizing the wind resistance of the tower) and facilitating the construction of the walls using flat planks placed horizontally between the wooden ribs arranged at the vertices of the polygon. Furthermore, the greater the number of sides of the polygon, the simpler it is to insert into the building the circular ring on which the upper section rotates.

The configuration of the mill's elevation also responds to functional issues, combining a very wide base (necessary to guarantee its stability against overturning) with an increasingly thinner shaft as it rises, minimizing the obstacle posed by the body of the building to the passage of air through the blades. This reduction in the width of the top is also motivated by the need to minimize the weight of the mill roof (and therefore its size), making it rotate more easily.[6]​.

The mechanisms (gear wheels, axles, pulleys...), similar to what occurred in the large ships of the time, were made of wood with iron reinforcements. The blades (normally 4, although other arrangements are known, such as that of the famous Chimney Mill designed in England by the engineer John Smeaton, which had 5 blades) were usually made up of a wooden framework that was both resistant and light, covered with thick canvas (sometimes called "sails") to collect the wind.[10]​.

Another fundamental element is the exterior wooden stringers, which allow the blades to be oriented towards the wind. In the first stage, when the height of the towers no longer allowed the orientation of the roof to be managed with the stringer system from the ground, the solution of adding a perimeter gallery to the mill at mid-height was resorted to in order to be able to manage them. Later, an auxiliary blade system (compass rose) was invented to automatically orient the windmill towards the wind. The moving head of the mill (lid or bonnet), where the axis of the blades is inserted, rotates on a flat metal ring using wheels (originally made of wood and later made of steel), although in the most primitive models the rotation was achieved by sliding two polished wooden rings lubricated with soap.

The largest flour mills had numerous interior levels, which housed both the grinding mechanisms and the different rooms dedicated to the storage of cereals and flour, including in many cases a house for the miller. According to the graph on the right, a typical distribution consisted of the following parts:.

The floors below the gallery often differ, depending on the type of mill and the number of floors, and form the substructure. When they have a gallery, often only the number of floors located below is counted, which does not correspond to the real number of floors. In addition to the static advantages over windmills of older architecture, this design implied more space in the building to accommodate other machines and allowed the blades to be placed higher, increasing their energy efficiency. The force was transmitted from the shaft of the blades through a "comb" toothed wheel, meshed with another wheel attached to a vertical axis of rotation. This main drive train allowed all types of machines to be connected. Mills designed to dewater polder used an Archimedean screw to lift water from the ground to drainage channels. They could also function as sawmills, adding lateral crankshafts to the central axis, converting the rotary movement into a vertical reciprocating movement applied to the saw blades.[11]​.

Blades to ground:.

With socket:.

From mound:.

With wine cellar:.

With gallery:.

With tower:.

Mixed forms:.

There are numerous preserved specimens in continental Europe, especially in the Netherlands, northern Germany and Denmark, as well as in England, particularly in the county of Kent.

The Netherlands has more than 1,200 listed mills (see List of mills in the Netherlands).