Wâlterswâld ( nl, Wouterswoude) is a village in

Dantumadiel Dantumadiel () is a municipality in the province of Friesland in the Netherlands. Dantumadiel is a rural municipality characterized by economic activity and agriculture. History The first time Dantumadiel is mentioned was in a document from 12 ...

municipality,

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 ...

. The village had a population of approximately 920 in 2017. The village as two residential centers, a northern and southern center. The southern center forms a unit with the residential center of the village

Driezum Driezum ( nl, Driesum) is a village in the Dantumadiel municipality of Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 850 in 2017. Together with Wâlterswâld it forms the twin village of Driezum-Wâlterswâld. The residential center ...

. Therefore together with Driezum it forms the twin village of Driezum-Wâlterswâld. The two villages have many common associations and a common village community centre, called De Nije Warf and which is located in Wâlterswâld.

History

The place was probably founded on the artificial dwelling mound, an so called

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 ...

called ''Walthiem'' and which was located southeast of

Dokkum Dokkum is a Dutch fortified city in the municipality of Noardeast-Fryslân in the province of Friesland. It has 12,669 inhabitants (February 8, 2020). The fortifications of Dokkum are well preserved and are known as the ''bolwerken'' (bulwarks). ...

and north of the modern village of Wâlterswâld. The modern village of Wâlterswâld may be an slowly relocation from the actual terp site to the peat swamp area south of it that was called ''Walters halen'' in 1402.Gildemacher, Karel F. (2007). Friese plaatsnamen: alle steden, dorpen en gehuchten. Leeuwarden, Friese Pers/Noordboek (in Dutch) This area is located in the scenic landscape of the Dokkumer Wouden and was later called Walthiem. The countryside is still called Walthiem. The village is first cited in West Frisian as ''Walters wald'' in 1482 and in 1540 in Dutch as ''Wolterwold''. Walthiem's terp location is a bit unclear. There were two terpen close to each other southeast of Dokkum. Both terpen could be the origin of the village. On the largest terp a chapel was founded, with a statue of Mary in it. This was mentioned in a charter in 1331, with the place indication as ''in Montibus'' as in 'on the mountain'. The chapel was later demolished and later an abbey cloister was created, like a

monastic grange Monastic granges were outlying landholdings held by monasteries independent of the manorial system. The first granges were owned by the Cistercians and other orders followed. Wealthy monastic houses had many granges, most of which were largely a ...

of the Bagijn monastery Sion. In 1664 it is mentioned as ''Sionsberg'', that name has been retained thereafter. The Sionsberg became part of Dokkum at the end of the 20th century, located in the industrial area called ''Hogedijken''. It is not entirely clear why exactly the inhabitants of the mound settlement moved into the peat swamp area, but it may have to do with the first reclamation works of the area in the 13th and 14th centuries. The village is known as a peat mining and cultivation village. In 1573 the place was mentioned as ''Walters wolde'' and in 1664 as ''Wolterswolde''. The village was developed on two different roads, the Foarwei (south) and the Achterwei (north). This created two residential areas. The southern residential core has as good as merged with that of the village of Driezum. The name of the village was Wouterswoude from the 18th century. In West Frisian the place is called Wâlterswâld. In 2008 the municipality Dantumadiel decided that it was going the replace all the official Dutch names within the municipality with the West Frisian names, meaning that Wâlterswâld was from 2009 the official name for the village.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walterswald Populated places in Friesland Dantumadiel