Medieval churches in Netherlands
Exmorra Church
The church of Exmorra is a small one-aisled church from the 13th century. In ca. 1300 the nave was lengthened and a tower was added. Of this tower, which collapsed in 1836, only the lower part remains. That same year the wooden tower and the western facade were built. Until the church was restored in 1963-1966 it was covered with a thick coat of plaster, underneath which many traces of its original Romanesque condition ha ...Aldtsjerk Church
The Protestant church of Aldtsjerk or Saint Paul’s church was built in the mid-12th century. It represents the Romanesque style with a triple closed choir built out of brick covered with tuffstone. The tower dates from the 13th century and is like the church build out of brick covered with tuffstone. The church was once a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Paul but became a Protestant church after the protesta ...Dearsum Church
Saint Nicholas church in Dearsum is a Romanesque church from c. 1200 with a 13th-century tower build out of red brick. In the 16th century four large windows where added to the south side. The Pipe organ was built in 1895 by the Gebroeders Ademaand was restored in 1916 and 1983 by Bakker & Timmenga.Goutum Church
On the north side of Saint Agnes church in Goutum remnants of the an older tufa church from the 11th century or 12th century can be seen. The church was enlarged and heightened with brick in the 15th century and has a tower from the same century. The church was originally a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Agnes, becoming a Protestant church after the Protestant Reformation.Hantumhuizen Church
Hantumhuizen Saint Anne"s church was built in the first half of the 13th century out of red brick in Romano-Gothic style. The tower dates from c. 1200 and the quintuple closed choir date from the 18th century. The Pipe organ was built in 1907 by Bakker & Timmenga.Swichum Church
The nave of Saint Nicholas Church in Swichum was built in the 13th century and the semicircular choir dates from the late 13th century; both are built out of red brick. The tower was built in the 14th century and the furniture in the church dates from the 19th century.Augustinusga Church
The Protestant church of Augustinusga or Saint Augustine’s church was built in the 15th century. The tower is older, dating from the 13th century, was built out of brick. The building was once a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Augustine, becoming a Protestant church after the Protestant Reformation.Gytsjerk Church
Gytsjerk Saint Martin’s church is a late 12th century Romanesque church with a 19th-century facade. Over time the church was several times changed/converted but the North wall, South wall and choir show still beautiful signs of the Romanesque tuffstone church.Oentsjerk Church
Saint Mary church i Oentsjerk was built c. 1230 out of red brick and has a tower from the 14th century. On the West gallery is a monumental Pipe organ, built in 1871 by P. van Oeckelen.Easterlittens Church
The reformed church of Easterlittens was in catholic times known as St. Margaretha. The one-aisled nave was built in the 12th century, partly of tuff. The brick choir dates from the 13th century. In the 15th century the windows were enlarged and a sacristy was added to the north side. The south wall has a portal in manneristic style from 1655. The brick tower dates from 1854 and was designed by F. Stoett in a more or less ...Eastermar Church Ruins
The former Protestant church of Eastermar was demolished in 1868. Today only the medieval tower from the 13th century remains. The church is surrounded by a graveyard. Next to the tower stands a grave diggers building. The mechanical clockwork in the tower was made by the Gebr. van Bergen from Midwolda, Groningen in 1924.Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings
Historic Site of the week
Kisimul Castle
Dating from the 15th century, Kisimul is the only significant surviving medieval castle in the Outer Hebrides. It was the residence of the chief of the Macneils of Barra, who claimed descent from the legendary Niall of the Nine Hostages. Tradition tells of the Macneils settling in Barra in the 11th century, but it was only in 1427 that Gilleonan Macneil comes on record as the first lord. He probably built the castle that dominates the rocky islet, and in its shadow a crew house for his personal galley and crew. The sea coursed through Macneil veins, and a descendant, Ruari ‘the Turbulent’, was arrested for piracy of an English ship during King James VI’s reign in the later 16th century.
Heavy debts eventually forced the Macneil chiefs to sell Barra in 1838. However, a descendant, Robert Lister Macneil, the 45th Chief, repurchased the estate in 1937, and set about restoring his ancestral seat. It passed into Historic Scotland’s care in 2000.
The castle dates essentially from the 15th century. It takes the form of a three-storey tower house. This formed the residence of the clan chief. An associated curtain wall fringed the small rock on which the castle stood, and enclosed a small courtyard in which there are ancillary buildings. These comprised a feasting hall, a chapel, a tanist’s house and a watchman’s house. Most were restored in the 20th century, the tanist’s house serving as the family home of the Macneils. A well near the postern gate is fed with fresh water from an underground seam. Outside the curtain wall, beside the original landing-place, are the foundations of the crew house, where the sailors manning their chief’s galley had their quarters.