An anchor windlass is the maritime form of a windlass, a type of horizontal winch used to move heavy weights, built around a rotating cylinder or barrel turned by a crank, with larger versions adding separate winch heads at the ends to handle additional lines. The windlass is credited to the ancient Greek scientist Archimedes, and a surviving medieval windlass from between 1360 and 1400 is preserved in the Church of St Mary and All Saints in Chesterfield, England; the oldest known illustration of one appears in the Yuan-dynasty official Wang Zhen's 1313 Book of Agriculture, where it is shown raising water. Aboard ship the windlass is used specifically to raise and lower the anchor, a maritime application substantial enough that it is generally treated as its own device within the broader windlass family.
Facts
SignificanceThe windlass proved durable and widespread enough to survive materially and in illustration across centuries: a medieval windlass dated 1360 to 1400 still stands in the Church of St Mary and All Saints in Chesterfield, and during the Middle Ages the windlass was used to raise materials for building construction such as that church's own crooked spire. 1 Connections
In Field
Source Windlass - Wikipedia
Invented By
Source Windlass - Wikipedia
Sources
1. Windlass - Wikipedia
Uses section
During the Middle Ages the windlass was used to raise materials for the construction of buildings such as in Chesterfield's crooked spire church.
In Field: Marine Engineering, Categories
Sailing rigs and rigging
Invented By: Archimedes, History
The Greek scientist Archimedes was the inventor of the windlass.
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