Kupcův mlýn Water mill

Kupcův mlýn is a water mill in the village Křižánky (district Ždár nad Sazavou), which lies west of the village on the river Svratka. This probably medieval building has been protected as a real-estate cultural monument of the Czech Republic since 2009. The protection is related to the mill, saw and drive building.

The earliest history of the building is evidenced by the assumption of its medieval foundation. In 1713 the mill is listed in the Dominican part of the Terezian cadastral under the name of the Křížanský mill. From 1721 to 1756, thanks to the fast-moving superstructure, the hammer was used here for processing iron from the gypsy blast furnace.

The mill and the residential house are connected by a saddle roof, now covered with eternity on the original shingles. The two-storey building with partly residential attic has two entrances from the shield side. One leads directly to the ground floor, the other leads up the stairs to the floor. The interior was preserved by the original plank floors, limestone plaster and wooden beam cover ceilings. Under the mill there is a stone cellar with a vaulted vault, while the rear shield side is adjacent to a wooden annex with a covered loggia on the floor.

The wheel water was brought in by the drive. The mill originally had two compositions. In 1876 there was a common composition with a diameter of 300 cm and a width of 79 cm and an artistic composition with a diameter of 316 cm and a width of 126 cm. At the time of the hamru, one wheel was driven by a hammer and the other by a blower.

From the second half of the 18th century to the mill belonged on the north side a wooden saw with a saddle roof, where brick pillars for technical equipment are still visible. In 1909, the original single leaf saw was replaced by a cathode. Until 1919 it was driven around the top water (diameter 290 cm, width 95 cm), later by a Francis turbine with a flow rate of 0,45 m ³ / s, a drop of 3,4 m and a power of 15,5 k. The operation of the saw was completed in 1947.

After the mill died, there was a mill. The water wheel at this time was driven by grinding machines, mowers, blowers and bushers. The building was also used to generate electricity. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the mill was converted into a saw, which led to the removal of technical equipment and the filling of the mill wheel.

Kupcův mlýn is a valuable technical unit that documents the transformation of water management and craft production in the region. Thanks to its preservation, it represents an important testimony of local history. Interested in technical monuments should definitely not miss a visit to this place in Crossroads.