Route 7: De Bouwte Vriescheloo

Molen De Korenbloem forms the start and end point of this walk through and around Vriescheloo, which means 'Frisian forest'. Dokkumer monks tried to Christianise the village in the Middle Ages. Only after the Dollardin Breaches in the Middle Ages did the village find its current spot on the sandy ridge. It is a true farming village, stretching for several kilometres along Dorpsstraat. The farm plots are narrow and long, which is another Frisian heritage. Molen De Korenbloem was originally an oil mill from Scheemda, rebuilt in Vriescheloo in 1895 and given a thorough refurbishment in 1973. This largest mill in Groningen, with a span of 25 metres, serves as a training mill for volunteer millers.

Boelo Luitjen Tijdens was born to a farming family in Nieuw Beerta in 1858 and eventually made it to the Lower House. At the time, Westerwolde suffered from flooding due to the excavation of the peat. During came up with a canal plan to improve drainage. In 1905, the first shovel went into the ground. The B.L. Tijdens canal that crosses the route twice (points 7 and 18) was dug around 1920. At point 18 there is also a memorial post in honour of Tijdens and his canal plan.

The forest between Vriescheloo and the B.L. Tijdenskanaal was created in the early 1990s on the Bouwten (farmland on the peat) of Vriescheloo. Engbert Drenth, one of the longest-serving mayors in a single municipality (Bellingwedde), always promoted the creation of new nature in his municipality. As a tribute, the Forestry Commission named the forest near Vriescheloo after him the Engbert Drenthbos (item 21).

The church in Vriescheloo (the Loosterkerk) (item 30) is a hall church from 1717. The tower dates from 1841 and was raised in 1925. In the church there is a fine pulpit from 1560 which is suspected to have once been built for another church. Until the 17th century, there was a church on the other side of Dorpsstraat. It is suspected that it became unusable due to subsidence.

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This is a route of the Walking in WesterwoldeFoundation. You can still sign up as a sponsor for this route. Mail to info@wandeleninwesterwolde.nl