Groot Wetsinge (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

: ''Big Wetsinge'') and Klein Wetsinge (English: ''Small Wetsinge'') are two villages in the municipality of

Het Hogeland Het Hogeland is a municipality in the north of the province of Groningen (province), Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. History The municipality of Het Hogeland was established on 1 January 2019 by merging the municipalities of Bedu ...

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

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

. The villages are less than half a

kilometre The kilometre (SI symbol: km; or ), spelt kilometer in American English, American and Philippine English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand metres (kilo- being the SI prefix for ). It is the ...

apart and are often referred to together as Wetsinge. The closest village, at a distance of less than a

to Wetsinge is

Sauwerd Sauwerd is a village in the municipality of Het Hogeland, Groningen, Netherlands. Until the local government reorganization of 1990 the village was the head of the former municipality of Adorp. The village of Sauwerd is 7 to 10 kilometers away ...

. The name ''Groot Wetsinge'' is a rather confusing name, because there are fewer houses in Groot Wetsinge than in Klein Wetsinge. In this context, ''Groot'' means high. This is because of the

wierde Wierde (; ) is a sub-municipality of the city of Namur located in the province of Namur, Wallonia, Belgium. It was a separate municipality until 1977. On 1 January 1977, it was merged Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions ...

on which the village lies. Klein Wetsinge is not situated on a wierde. The first occupation of the mound of Groot Wetsinge dates from the 3rd century BC. Several discoveries have been made in the wierde, including an earthen lamp from the first century BC. The wierde is part of a cluster of wierdes along the eastern bank of the

Hunze The Hunze (also Oostermoerse Vaart, Oostermoersche Vaart, Drentsche Diep and Schuyten diep) is a river located in the border area of Drenthe and Groningen, east of the Hondsrug, in the Netherlands. The Hunze used to run through to the Wadden Sea, ...

. Wetsinge was part of the area controlled by the family Onsta, which also built the Onstaborg to the northeast of Wetsinge.

Church of Wetsinge

The

aisleless church An aisleless church () is a single-nave church building that consists of a single hall-like room. While similar to the hall church, the aisleless church lacks aisles or passageways on either side of the nave and separated from the nave by col ...

of Wetsinge was built in the 11th or 12th century BC. The detached

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

clock tower, which appears on the map of Joannes Baptista Regemortes from 1643 or 1644, was probably built in the 13th or 14th century southeast of the church, when more detached church towers were built in

. Shortly after 1645 the tower was demolished. Because the clay was strong enough the tower had no foundation, so that nothing of the tower is left. Between 1616 and 1630, a new tower was built on the west side of the church which replaced the old one. Early 19th century the church fell into disrepair and in 1840 it was, together with the church of

, demolished. It was replaced the same year by a church built halfway between Wetsinge and Sauwerd. The site of the new church was then popularly called Klein Wetsinge. This church has a simple neoclassical facade. The

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

probably came from the former church of Sauwerd. Also the bell, dating from 1609, probably came from Sauwerd.

Gallery

File:Wetsinge - oude kerk.jpg, Drawing of the old church which was demolished in 1840 File:Groot Wetsinge - kerkhof.jpg, View of the upper side of the mound. In the grass the contours of the former church. File:Wetsinge - provincialeweg 40.jpg, Little house in Wetsinge File:Groot Wetsinge - dorpsgezicht.jpg, Street view of Groot Wetsinge

References

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places in Groningen (province) Het Hogeland