Wervershoof (; West Frisian: ''Werfershouf'') is a small town and former municipality in the north-western

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, in the 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 ...

and the region of West-Frisia. Since 1 January 2011 it has been part of the municipality of

Medemblik Medemblik () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West Friesland (region), West-Frisia. It lies immediately south of the polder and former municipality of Wieringermeer. History Med ...

. The and N302 roads run through the town. There are a number of versions of the origin of the name Wervershoof. It may come from the preacher Werenfridus, a follower of

Willibrord Willibrord (; 658 – 7 November AD 739) was an Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon monk, bishop, and missionary. He became the first Diocese of Utrecht (695–1580), Bishop of Utrecht in what is now the Netherlands, dying at Echternach in Luxembourg, and ...

who came to the area in 690 and later lived on a farm there. The old parish church was dedicated to St. Werenfridus. A settlement named 'Werfaertshof' is mentioned on a map in 1288. Until the early 19th century, the population fluctuated between 250 and 400. The number grew after 1817 when it became an independent municipality and in 1868 there were nearly 800 inhabitants. The municipality was then enlarged by adding

High High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift t ...

and Low Zwaagdijk, after which it had about 1,600 inhabitants. After slow growth in the early 20th century, the population grew more rapidly after World War II, increasing from 2,000 to just over 5,000 over a 40-year period. The other places in the municipality grew more slowly than Wervershoof. On 1 January 2010, the town had 8,794 inhabitants.

Local government

The last

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of Wervershoof consisted of 13 seats, which at the 2006 election, were divided as follows: * Algemene Belangen Combinatie (ABC) - 3 seats *

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( , CDA) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in the Netherlands. Formed as a federation in 1975 by the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party, and the Christian Historical ...

(CDA) - 2 seats * Progressief Wervershoof (PW) - 2 seats *

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party (Netherl ...

(VVD) - 2 seats * Zwaagdijker Dorpsbelang - 2 seats * Labour Party (PvdA) - 2 seats An election was held in November 2010 for a council for the new Medemblik municipality that merged Medemblik with both Wervershoof and

Andijk Andijk (; ) is a former municipality and a village bordering Lake IJssel in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. Since 1 January 2011 Andijk has been part of Medemblik municipality. The name Andijk c ...

. This commenced work on 1 January 2011. The last mayor of the Wervershoof municipality was Floris Vletter (VVD).

Notable people born in Wervershoof

* Jelle and Dion Bakker (1983 and 1981), creator of Jelle's Marble Runs YouTube channel *

Yvonne Spigt Yvonne Spigt (born 20 January 1988) was a Dutch marathon skating, marathon skater and inline skating, inline skater. She also works as a doctor's assistant. Her sisters Moniek, Petra and Jannitta have also skated in women's marathons. Spigt won th ...

(1988), skater, Dutch champion marathon skating on natural ice 2008 and 2012 *

Bert Steltenpool Bert Steltenpool (born 5 May 1994) is a Dutch professional footballer who currently plays as a striker for Dutch amateur club VV VVW. Personal life He is a son of former Volendam defender Eric Steltenpool,Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2011 Populated places in North Holland Former municipalities of North Holland Medemblik