Veenhuizer mill route

A beautiful walk through the polder over old roads and grass quays.

Along the way you pass three mills and two old pumping stations.

These together formed the mill corridor that drained'de Grote or Zuyderwaard\\\' around 1630.

At the starting point, the church of Veenhuizen, there is a bell tower with a late medieval bronze bell.

In a vestibule of the church you can also see Reinoud van Brederode's mausoleum; the son-in-law of Johan van Oldebarneveldt, the statesman who was sentenced to death and beheaded in 1619.

In the 17th century, Reinoud van Brederode was the Lord of Veenhuizen.

Veenhuizen

Veenhuizen appears in 1289 as Vehuzen and in 1396 as Veenhuzen.

The place name refers to'houses in the peat\\\'. From 1814 to 1854, Veenhuizen was an independent municipality. From 1854 it became part of the municipality of Heerhugowaard.

Veenhuizen is a medieval peat extraction village. The surrounding land is a 'drip land' (existing land that will be located within the ring dike of a reclaimed land, a polder).

The soil collapsed due to previous peat extraction. The result was swampy meadows. The

small islands that protruded above the water here and there were the driplands. During the reclamation, the old pieces of land ended up in the new Veenhuizerpolder. You can recognize them by their higher location in the landscape.

The dike that had to protect Veenhuizen against the water of the Waert, the Groenedijk, is still there.

Veenhuizer Church (1963)

The modern, Dutch Reformed Veenhuizer Church stands on the site of a small church from 1862. And this former church, a so-called water management church, was built on top of the remains of a medieval church.

In 2016, the Brederode year, excavations were carried out here that not only exposed the foundations of the 1862 church, but also the foundation remains of this much older and much larger medieval church. Archaeologically, these remains have been examined and valued, the medieval church is said to have been built between 1250 and 1300.

Clock chair

National monument

At the current church there is a bell tower with a bronze bell from 1460.

Mausoleum of Reinoud van Brederode, lord of Veenhuizen (1567-1633)

National monument

Reinoud van Brederode was the son-in-law of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt; the statesman who was sentenced to death and beheaded in 1619.

In the 17th century Reinoud van Brederode was 'Lord of Veenhuizen'. Noble landowners,'lords\\\', used to call their newly acquired territory a'Manor\\\'.

His mausoleum, a marble tomb with his life-size image, is in the vestibule of the Veenhuizer Church. You will also find more information about Veenhuizen and Reinoud van Brederode here.

War graves

In the cemetery behind the Veenhuizer Church you can see the graves of three English crew members who crashed with their Bristol Blenheim Mark IV bomber in a meadow near the church on July 2, 1940.

Berkmeer and Berkmeerpolder

History

It is said that it was in the Berkmeer that Count William II of Holland fell through the ice on January 28, 1256 and was murdered by the West Frisians.

Embankment

There were plans to drain the Berkmeer as early as 1609. Then they were not implemented. The proposed embankment of the adjacent Heerhugowaard prompted the plan to be reinstated. On March 21, 1633, the States of Holland and West Friesland granted a patent for the diking of the Berkmeer. Only two years later, in June or July 1635, the entire polder was measured and parceled out. The area covers approximately 288 hectares.

Mills

Mill de Veenhuizer (1603), no longer in operation, drained the polder. Next to it is an electric pumping station from 1934.

On the other side, in the Berkmeerpolder, is the Berkmeermolen , this polder mill regularly drains the polder. The mill has been here since 1803, but was originally built in 1608 and was then located in Hensbroek.

Slightly further north is Molen De Lage Hoek, also called De Vier Winden or Kaagmolen, was built in 1654 and drains the Kaagpolder, which is located opposite the Berkmeer. Next to this mill is a pumping station from 1879.