Ruurlo is a village and former

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the province of

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

in the eastern part of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The town has a station on the

Zutphen Zutphen () is a city and municipality located in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It lies some 30 km northeast of Arnhem, on the eastern bank of the river Ijssel at the point where it is joined by the Berkel. First mentioned in the 1 ...

Winterswijk Winterswijk (; also known as ''Winterswiek'' or ''Wenters'') is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. It has a population of and is situated in the Achterhoek, which lies in the easternmost part of the province of Gelderland in th ...

railway line, and is served by trains every half-hour in both directions. In the evening there is an hourly service. Ruurlo Castle lies just outside the town and is a popular place for weddings. The castle was used as the town hall until 1 January 2005, when the municipality Ruurlo merged with the municipalities of

Borculo Borculo is a city in the eastern Netherlands, in the municipality of Berkelland, Gelderland. Borculo was an independent municipality until 2005, when it merged with Eibergen, Neede, and Ruurlo. Other population centers in the municipality of Bor ...

Neede Neede is a former Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. On 1 January 2005 the municipality of Neede merged with the municipalities of Eibergen, Borculo and Ruurlo into the municipality of Berkelland ...

and

Eibergen Eibergen (Low Saxon: ''Eibarge'') is a town and former municipality in Gelderland in the Eastern Netherlands. It is part of the Achterhoek cultural region. The administrative cooperation of about 20 municipalities in this region is the Regio Achte ...

into the municipality of

Berkelland Berkelland () is a municipality in the Netherlands province of Gelderland. It was created on 1 January 2005 from the merger of the former municipalities of Borculo, Eibergen, Neede, and Ruurlo. The new municipality was named after the Berkel, a sma ...

History

It was first mentioned in the 1180s as Ritherlo, and means "catlle near forest". The village developed in the Middle Ages around Ruurlo Castle. The castle was first mentioned in 1326. It was enlarged in 1571, 1627 and 1727. The gardens date from 1801. After the 1984 restoration was completed, it served as town hall. The

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

has 14th century elements. The tower dates from the late-15th century and was restored in 1793 and 1894. The Catholic Saint Willibrord was completed in 1871, and was designed by

Pierre Cuypers Petrus Josephus Hubertus "Pierre" Cuypers (16 May 1827 – 3 March 1921) was a Dutch architect. His name is most frequently associated with the Amsterdam Central Station (1881–1889) and the Rijksmuseum (1876–1885), both in Amsterdam. M ...

. In 1840, it was home to 419 people. The

Ruurlo railway station Ruurlo is a railway station in Ruurlo, Netherlands. The station opened on 24 June 1878 and is located on the Zutphen–Winterswijk railway. The train services are operated by Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport co ...

opened in 1878. The building was demolished in 1982, and replaced by a simple bus stop which was removed in 2000. The

saw A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, wire, or chain with a hard toothed edge. It is used to cut through material, very often wood, though sometimes metal or stone. The cut is made by placing the toothed edge against the material and mo ...

and

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

Agneta dates from 1851. It was originally an

oil mill An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

, but was redesigned in 1917. The mill is sometimes used for sawing, however it is usually performed with an electric engine.

Former population centres

Brinkmanshoek, De Bruil, De Haar,

Heurne Heurne is a hamlet in the municipality of Aalten, near Aalten (Achterhoek region) in the eastern Netherlands. It was first mentioned in 1492 as Horne, and means "bent f a hill. The postal authorities have placed it under Aalten. In 1840, it was ...

, Mariënvelde, Ruurlo and Veldhoek.

Gallery

Image:Ruurlo, kerk1 foto4 2010-07-19 10.37.JPG, Ruurlo, reformed church File:Ruurlo, de Rooms Katholieke Sint Willibrorduskerk GM1859wikinr174 foto4 2015-08-21 17.46.jpg, Ruurlo, church: de Sint Willibrorduskerk Image:Ruurlo, houtzaagmolen de Arend foto2 201-07-19 10.29.JPG, Ruurlo, windmill: sawmill de Agneta File:Exterieur OVERZICHT - Ruurlo - 20264853 - RCE.jpg, Sheep pen

References

{{Coord, 52, 05, N, 6, 27, E, region:NL_type:city, display=title Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2005 Populated places in Gelderland Former municipalities of Gelderland Berkelland