Wemeldinge is the oldest village in the

Zuid-Beveland Zuid-Beveland (; "South Beveland") is part of the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands north of the Western Scheldt and south of the Eastern Scheldt. Topography It is a former island, now peninsula, crossed by the Canal through Zuid-Bevelan ...

area of the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

province of

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

. It is located in the municipality of

Kapelle Kapelle () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the southwestern Netherlands on Zuid-Beveland. As of January 2017, the municipality's population amounts to 12,620. Population centers Topography ''The municipality ...

, about 4 km northwest of

Yerseke Yerseke (, Zeelandic: ) is a village situated on the southern shore of the Oosterschelde (Eastern Scheldt) estuary in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Zeeland. A separate municipality until 1970, it today forms part of the municipality of Reimers ...

. It is located within the

Eastern Scheldt The Eastern Scheldt ( nl, Oosterschelde) is a former estuary in the province of Zeeland, Netherlands, between Schouwen-Duiveland and Tholen on the north and Noord-Beveland and Zuid-Beveland on the south. It also features the largest national ...

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

History

The village was first mentioned in 1222 as Gerardus de Wemelbinghe, and means "settlement of the people of Wimeld (person)". Wemeldinge developed in the 11th century on several small ''

terp A ''terp'', also known as a ''wierde, woerd, warf, warft, werf, werve, wurt'' or ''værft'', is an artificial dwelling mound found on the North European Plain that has been created to provide safe ground during storm surges, high tides an ...

''s (artificial hills). There is a high hill near the village which used to be topped by a wooden tower. The village later expanded towards to dike. The Dutch Reformed church is a double aisled church. The tower was built around 1350. The current spire dates from 1611. The church was enlarged in 1530. During the 1898 restoration, the entrance was moved to the choir. It was undone during the 1987 to 1989 restoration. The

grist mill 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 ...

De Hoop was built in 1866. It was severely damaged during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was in use until 1968, and was converted into a holiday home in 1969, however was no application for a building permit and the wind mill remained derelict for a long period. It was bought by the municipality and restored between 1981 and 1983. It is frequently in use. Wemeldinge was home to 810 people in 1840. Wemeldinge was a separate municipality until 1970, when it was merged with

Gallery

File:Wemeldinge - De Hoop 1.jpg, Wind mill De Hoop File:Wemeldinge - Haven.jpg, The harbour of Wemeldinge File:Gemeentelijk monument ‘Bakkersboogerd’.jpg, House in Wemeldinge File:Wemeldinge - Gemeentelijk Monument - Wilhelminastraat 1.jpg, Buildings in Wemeldinge

References

{{Commons category, position=left Populated places in Zeeland Former municipalities of Zeeland Kapelle