Serooskerke is a village in the southwest

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 is located in the municipality of

Schouwen-Duiveland Schouwen-Duiveland () is a municipality and an island in the southwestern Netherlands province of Zeeland. The municipality has 33,737 inhabitants (1 January 2016) and covers an area of (of which is water). The northside of the island has two fi ...

Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...

about 100 km southwest of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

History

The village was first mentioned in 1395 or 1396 as Ecclesia Alardi, and means "(private) church of Lord Alard (person)". Serooskerke is a church village which developed on a ridge around a church. It used to be a ''

heerlijkheid A ''heerlijkheid'' (a Dutch language, Dutch word; pl. ''heerlijkheden''; also called ''heerschap''; Latin: ''Dominium'') was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and Judiciary, judicial unit in rural areas in the Dutch-speaking ...

'' of the Van Tuyll van Serooskerke family. The Dutch Reformed church is a single-aisled building. The tower dates from the 15th century. The church burnt down in 1576 and was partially rebuilt using material from the old church. In 1958, it was restored and the leaning tower was straightened. Serooskerke was home to 290 people in 1840. In 1903, a harbour was constructed for the transportation of

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

. Serooskerke was severely damaged during the

North Sea flood of 1953 The 1953 North Sea flood () was a major flood caused by a heavy storm surge that struck the Netherlands, north-west Belgium, England and Scotland. Most sea defences facing the surge were overwhelmed, resulting in extensive flooding. The ...

, and 15 people died. The hole in the dike was not big, but started to extend and was 520 metres wide by Augustus 1953. A new ring dike was constructed around the village and the gaps were closed with caissons. The old dike was never restored and the hole is still visible. On 1 January 1961, the municipality of Serooskerke merged with the neighboring municipalities of

Burgh A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...

Haamstede Haamstede is a village in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland. The village is known for Haamstede Castle. History The village was first mentioned in 1229 as Haemstede, and means "pla ...

Noordwelle Noordwelle is a village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, and lies about 5 km southwest of Scharendijke. The village was first mentioned in 1109 as Willa, and means well. Noord (north) ...

, and

Renesse Renesse () is a village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, and lies about 28 km west of Hellevoetsluis. Renesse is a popular tourist resort with zero-fare bus services in the area (in ...

to form the municipality of Westenschouwen. On Januari 1997 Westenschouwen merged into the newly formed municipality of

that is identical in name and area to the island on which Serooskerke is located.

Gallery

Image:Serooskerke, molen foto4 2011-07-03 11.48.JPG, Serooskerke, windmill File:Overzicht - Serooskerke (Schouwen) - 20199181 - RCE.jpg, Houses in Serooskerke

People from Serooskerke

* Johannes van de Velde Olivier, printer, publisher and bookseller in

Zierikzee Zierikzee () is a small city in the southwest Netherlands, 50 km southwest of Rotterdam. It is situated in the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, Zeeland. The city hall of Schouwen-Duiveland is located in Zierikzee, its largest city. Zierikze ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Schouwen-Duiveland History of Schouwen-Duiveland Populated places in Zeeland Former municipalities of Zeeland