Niehove

Before the dykes were built, the clay country of Groningen and Friesland flooded regularly, and people lived on wierden - artificial mounds raised by hand over generations, high enough to keep house, church and stock above the water. Hundreds were built from about 500 BC; many were later dug away for their fertile soil and sold as fertiliser. Niehove is the most complete surviving example of the village form that resulted: the church stands on the highest point of the mound, two ring roads circle it, radial lanes run down the slope, and the whole plan is a set of concentric rings visible from the air and legible on the ground. It is a working village of a few hundred people, quiet, with a Romano-Gothic church and no facilities to speak of. The Westerkwartier around it has several other wierde villages of the same kind.

History

Niehove, once called Suxwort, has been lived in since at least the 2nd century BC. Around 800 the forming Lauwerszee left it on the island of Humsterland; around 1200, as floods grew more frequent, a dike was built round the island, the village took the name Niehove at the end of the 14th century, and around 1500 Cistercian monks from Aduard Abbey began diking the land, joining it to the mainland again (Wikipedia, Niehove).

The main sights

• A village on a mound - built up by hand to stay above flood water.
• Concentric streets - two ring roads round the church with radial lanes down the slope.
• The most complete wierde form - the plan surviving where most were dug away.
• A working village - a few hundred people, no facilities, entirely ordinary.

When to go

April to October. Two hours.

What to expect

There is nothing here but the plan and the church - an hour at most. No shops or cafes. The plan is easier to grasp from a map than on the ground. Public transport is very limited.

Nearby

Winsum is east; Lauwersmeer and Zoutkamp are north-west.

Key facts