Klaaswaal is a village and former municipality in the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

province of

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

. It is centrally located on one of the island

Hoeksche Waard The Hoekse Waard (; pre-1947 spelling: Hoeksche Waard) is an island between the Oude Maas, Dordtsche Kil, Hollands Diep, Haringvliet and Spui rivers in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. The island, part of the namesake municipal ...

. Klaaswaal was a separate municipality until 1984, when it was merged with

Numansdorp Numansdorp is a town and former municipality in the province South Holland in the Netherlands and is located on the island Hoeksche Waard near the Hollands Diep. On 1 January 1984, the municipalities Numansdorp and Klaaswaal were merged into one ...

to form the municipality

Cromstrijen Cromstrijen (; ''Cromstrien'' in local dialect) was a municipality on the Hoeksche Waard Island in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. It was formed on 1 January 1984, ...

History

The village was first mentioned in 1555 as "Claes Wael", and means "pool after dike breach belonging to Claes (person)". In 1539 embankment of the

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains s ...

''Het Westmaas Nieuwland'' was started. The lords reserved a part of the new land for the new to found village ''Claeswaal''. The first buildings were built along the Voorstraat. At the end of this street, a church was built in 1566. Originally, it was built as a Catholic church, but the pastor of Strijen didn't want to come to the village as he considered the distance as too far. The community found a minister who was willing to hold the services, and therefore the services were of a Protestant nature. The Dutch Reformed church is a single aisled church with slender tower from 1566. It was modified several through its history. The water tower is octagon tower made out of reinforced concrete and was built in 1929. In 1602 the embankment of the ''Nieuw-Cromstrijense polder'' was finished. Since then, Klaaswaal doesn't have a connection with the

Hollands Diep Hollands Diep ( pre-1947 spelling: Hollandsch Diep) is a wide river in the Netherlands and an estuary of the Rhine and Meuse rivers. Through the Scheldt-Rhine Canal it connects to the Scheldt river and Antwerp. The Bergse Maas river and the N ...

anymore. Klaaswaal was home to 651 people in 1840. It was an independent municipality until 1984 when it was merged into

. In 2019, it became part of the municipality of

Gallery

File:Klaaswaal - watertoren en omgeving.jpg, Klaaswaal, view of the village File:Klaaswaal, de Nederlands Hervormde kerk RM23662 IMG 0941 2021-09-06 14.04.jpg, Reformed church

References

{{Authority control Populated places in South Holland Former municipalities of South Holland Hoeksche Waard