Nicolaaskerk Westerland

The Nicolaaskerk or Westerlanderkerk (Westerlanderweg 65), was originally dedicated to St. Nicholas. The church was already mentioned in the Commemoratio, a goods list of the church of Utrecht from the 9th century and can also be found in Dom accounts in 1323 and 1400. The originally Romanesque church was located on the elevated churchyard surrounded by a cemetery. Painter Pieter van Cuyck visited the church at the end of the 18th century and described a very old church made of pigeon stone, with a separate tower without a spire. The current design dates from a later date. This is reflected in the tower, which dates from the early 16th century. It consists of three sections, separated by a toothed frame and is made of red brick, interspersed with a few layers of yellow mops. In the second and third sections of the tower there are niches with rectangular reverberation holes at the top. The tower is closed with a fairly recent tent roof. The nave, renovated in 1828 and placed against the tower, is built in early neo-Gothic style. It is closed on three sides, short in design and fitted with round-arched windows.There was a gallows field near the church.In 1953 some red sandstone coffins and lids were found at the Church, dating from the 12th century. One of these has been transferred to the church in Hippolytushoef and one to the Archaeological Museum on Schokland. The rest of the fragments remained in place.