Grosthuizen is a village in the Dutch province of

North Holland North Holland (, ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevola ...

. It is a part of the municipality of

Koggenland Koggenland () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in North Holland province and the region of West Friesland (region), West-Frisia of the Netherlands. It came into existence on 1 January 2007 upon the merger of the two former mun ...

, and lies about 7 km southwest of

Hoorn Hoorn () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. It is the largest town an ...

. The village was first mentioned in the 12th century 1420 Asthusa, and means "big (eastern) settlement". Grost (big) was added to distinguish from Oosthuizen. Later Ast (east) was dropped from the name. Grosthuizen developed as a

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

excavation settlement in the 13th century. In 1874, a church was built, but demolished in 1965. Only a belfry remains. Grosthuizen was home to 307 people in 1840. It was a separate municipality between 1817 and 1854, when it was merged with

Avenhorn Avenhorn is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Koggenland, and lies about 9 km west of Hoorn. History The village was first mentioned around 1312 as Lutekedrecht. The current name means "c ...

. In 2007, it became part of the municipality of

References

Populated places in North Holland Former municipalities of North Holland Koggenland {{NorthHolland-geo-stub