Easterlittens ( nl, Oosterlittens) is a village in

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of the ...

in the province of

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It had a population of around 439 in January 2017.

History

The village was first mentioned in the second half of the 13th century as Lechinke. The etymology is unclear. Easterlittens is 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 an ...

'' (artificial living mound) village which developed along the Franekervaart. The terp has been partially excavated at the end of the 19th century. The Dutch Reformed Church has 12th century elements. The tower dates from 1854. The little tower was blown off the church in a storm in 1969, and was restored and put back in 1971, but without the original bell which could not be found and was replaced by a ship's bell. In 1840, Easterlittens was home to 479 people. The windmill

Alde Swarte Molen, Easterlittens Alde Swarte Molen (English: ''Old Black Mill'') is a Hollow Post mill in Easterlittens, Friesland, Netherlands which has been restored to working order. The mill is listed as a Rijksmonument, number 8531. (Click on "Technische gegevens" to view.) ...

is a ''polder'' mill from 1690. It used to drain excess water until 1961 when it was rendered obsolete by an electric pumping station. In 1967, it was bought by the municipality of Baarderadeel for ƒ 1,-. Since 1981, the wind mill is back in active service draining the polder of Oosterlittens-Britswerd. Before 2018, the village was part of the

Littenseradiel Littenseradiel () is a former municipality in the northern Netherlands, known in Dutch as Littenseradeel (). The municipality was formed on 1 January 1984 by a merger of the former municipalities Baarderadeel and Hennaarderadeel. On 1 January 2018, ...

municipality and before 1984 it belonged to

Baarderadeel Baarderadeel is a former municipality in the Dutch province of Friesland, southwest of Leeuwarden. Since 1984, the area has been a part of the municipality of Littenseradiel. Some of the larger villages in Baarderadeel are Winsum Winsum () is ...

municipality.

Gallery

File:Easterlittens aan de Franekervaart.jpg, View from the canal File:Easterlittens gezien vanaf de Brêgebuorren.jpg, Houses along the canal File:Easterlittens in de Brêgebuorren.jpg, Street view File:Welkom in Easterlittens.jpg, Bridge of Easterlittens

References

External links

{{Authority control Leeuwarden Populated places in Friesland