Scharl is a small 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 ...

municipality 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 55 in January 2017.

History

The village was first mentioned in 1412 as Scarle. The etymology is unclear. The village is located near the Roode Klif (Red Cliff), a nine metre high clay ridge, on the former

Zuiderzee The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee''), historically called Lake Almere and Lake Flevo, was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands. It extended about 100 km (60 miles) inla ...

(nowadays:

IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer (; , ), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed-off freshwater lake in the central Netherlands bordering the Provinces of the Netherlands, provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with a ...

) where the

Battle of Warns The Battle of Warns (; ) was a battle of the Friso-Hollandic Wars between Count William II, Count of Hainaut, William IV of Holland and the Frisians which took place on 26 September 1345. The annual commemoration of the battle is important for m ...

took place in 1345 and

William IV of Holland William II (1307 – 26 September 1345) was Count of Hainaut from 1337 until his death. He was also Count of Holland (as William IV) and Count of Zeeland. He succeeded his father, Count William I of Hainaut. While away fighting in Prussia, the F ...

was defeated by

. Almost the entire army of Holland including count William were killed during the battle. The church of the village has been demolished in 1732, and only a bell tower remains. The current bell tower dates from 1898. Scharl was home to 48 people in 1840. Before 2011, the village was part of the

Nijefurd Nijefurd (, ) is a former municipality in the northern Netherlands, in the province of Friesland. History It was formed in 1984 from the old municipalities of Hindeloopen, Stavoren, and Workum, and part of Hemelumer Oldeferd. In 2011, it formed ...

municipality and before 1984 it belonged to Hemelumer Oldeferd municipality.

References

Gallery

File:De Roode Klif.jpg, The Roode Klif File:Warns-Roode Klif (8).jpg, Monument celebrating the victory of Friesland over Holland

External links

Súdwest-Fryslân Populated places in Friesland {{Friesland-geo-stub