Kerkwerve is a village 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

Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...

. It is a part of the municipality of

Schouwen-Duiveland Schouwen-Duiveland () is a municipality and an island in the southwestern Netherlands province of Zeeland. The municipality has 33,737 inhabitants (1 January 2016) and covers an area of (of which is water). The northside of the island has two fi ...

, and lies about 24 km southwest of

Hellevoetsluis Hellevoetsluis () is a town and former municipality in the west of Netherlands. It is located in Voorne-Putten, South Holland. The former municipality covered an area of of which was water and it included the population centres of Nieuw-Helvoe ...

History

The village was first mentioned in the 11th century as Kiricwereve, and means "artificial height with church". Kerkwerve is a circular village around a church which developed during the Middle Ages. In the 14th century, the manor house Huis Te Werve was built to east of the Kerkwerve and existed until the 18th century. The village was burnt in 1576 by the Spanish Army. The Dutch Reformed church is an aisleless church from 1900 with a wooden tower with a slender spire. The church is located on a ''

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 and ...

'' (artificial hill)". Kerkwerve was home to 233 people in 1840. The village was severely affected by the

North Sea flood of 1953 The 1953 North Sea flood () was a major flood caused by a heavy storm surge that struck the Netherlands, north-west Belgium, England and Scotland. Most sea defences facing the surge were overwhelmed, resulting in extensive flooding. The ...

. Kerkwerve was a separate municipality until it was merged with Middenschouwen in 1961. In 1997, it became part of the municipality of

Gallery

File:Reproduktie van tekening theater met chinese tempel. - Kerkwerve - 20124761 - RCE.jpg, Drawing of the Chinese Temple File:Windmill Moriaanshoofd.jpg, Wind mill De Zwaan

References

Schouwen-Duiveland History of Schouwen-Duiveland Populated places in Zeeland Former municipalities of Zeeland {{Zeeland-geo-stub