Woudsend () is a village in

Súdwest-Fryslân Southwest Friesland ( ) is a municipality in the northern Netherlands, located in the province of Friesland. It had a population of 89,999 in January 2021. Sneek is the municipal seat. With a total area of 841.56 km2, Southwest-Friesland is ...

in the province of

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

, the

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 ...

. It had a population of around 1,380 in January 2017. There are two

windmill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...

s in the village, 't Lam and De Jager.

History

The village was first mentioned in 1337 as Woldesende, and means "end (edge) of the wood". Woudsend is a village from the Middle Ages that developed along the river. The economy was mainly based on trade and shipping. The village was densely settled and is characterised by many narrow alleys. The Dutch Reformed church was built in 1660 as a replacement of the medieval church. The new church was not well founded and started to subside. In 1835, it was decided to build a new church on the other side of the village. The church was completed in 1837. The Catholic St Michael Church was built in 1792 as a

clandestine church A clandestine church (), defined by historian Benjamin J. Kaplan as a "semi-clandestine church", is a house of worship used by religious minorities whose communal worship is tolerated by those of the majority faith on condition that it is discr ...

behind a residential house. In 1933, a tower was added and the church was enlarged. In 1722, a clandestine

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

church was built. It was rebuilt in 1858, but sold in 1968 and now serves as a pub. The village used to be located on the eastern side of the Ee river. During the 19th century, it was extended to the western side of the river. Woudsend was home to 1,181 people in 1840. Before 2011, the village was part of the Wymbritseradiel municipality.

Gallery

File:Molenhuis Woudsend.jpg, House in Woudsend File:'t Witte Huis, Woudsend.JPG, House in Woudsend File:De Dijk - Woudsend - 20218112 - RCE.jpg, Street view File:Small street in Woudsend (The Netherlands 2019) (40709605743).jpg, Alley in Woudsend

References

External links

{{Authority control Súdwest-Fryslân Populated places in Friesland