Benthorn is a hamlet in the
Dutch
Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
** Dutch people as an ethnic group ()
** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship ()
** Dutch language ()
* In specific terms, i ...
province of
South Holland
South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...
. It is located in the municipality of
Alphen aan den Rijn
Alphen aan den Rijn (; or "Alphen on the Rhine") is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The city is situated on the banks of the river Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland), Oude Rijn (Old Rhine ...
, about 2 km east of the centre of
Benthuizen
Benthuizen is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Alphen aan den Rijn and lies about 1 km east of Zoetermeer.
History
Benthuizen was described between 1280 and 1287. Benthuizen developed as ...
.
Benthorn used to be a ''
heerlijkheid
A ''heerlijkheid'' (a Dutch language, Dutch word; pl. ''heerlijkheden''; also called ''heerschap''; Latin: ''Dominium'') was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and Judiciary, judicial unit in rural areas in the Dutch-speaking ...
'' (manor), owned by the
States of Holland and West Friesland The States of Holland and West Frisia () were the representation of the two Estates of the realm, Estates (''standen'') to the court of the Count of Holland. After the Dutch Republic, United Provinces were formed — and there no longer was a count, ...
. It was sold to Adam Adriaan van der Duyn, lord of 's Gravemoer, in 1724.
In 1812, Benthorn became a part of the municipality of
Hazerswoude Hazerswoude is a former municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland. It contained the towns of Hazerswoude-Dorp and Hazerswoude-Rijndijk, and the villages of Groenendijk and Bent.
Hazerswoude was a separate municipality until 1991, when ...
, but on 1 April 1817 it became a separate municipality again.
According to the 19th-century historian A.J. van der Aa, in 1840 Benthorn consisted of 0.85 square km and had 10 inhabitants in 2 houses.
Because of the small size of the municipality, it was merged into Benthuizen in 1847.
Part of the hamlet had to be demolished for the construction of the high speed railway
HSL-Zuid
The HSL-Zuid (, ), is a 125 kilometre-long (78 mile) High-speed rail in the Netherlands, Dutch high-speed rail line running between the Amsterdam metropolitan area and the Belgium–Netherlands border, Belgian border, with a branch to Breda, ...
, and only three farms remain. The name of the hamlet no longer appears on recent topographical maps of the area.
[''ANWB Topografische Atlas Nederland'', Topografische Dienst and ANWB, 2005.]
References
Populated places in South Holland
Former municipalities of South Holland
Alphen aan den Rijn
{{SouthHolland-geo-stub