In the days when West Friesland was actually nothing more than a large and inhospitable forest (more shrubs), the place on which the village we are visiting now is located was located on the western side; hence the name. A wild story goes that as early as 333 there was a 'pagan church' in honor of Wodan, which was later converted into a Christian church. The famous church historian Voets, who was once a chaplain here, still believed that story. Officially, however, we only find indications for the existence of this village in the 12th century as a peat extraction site. If we read 333 as 1333 on the dedication stone of the old village church, everything fits better. In 1414, the Stede Westwoud (consisting of Westwoud, Ooster- and Westerblok and Binnenwijsd) was given city rights. A purely administrative event: there were no walls. Until 1876, the aforementioned 14th century village church stood at the old cemetery 't Laantje. The inhabitants must have behaved quite rough in the past: there was a lot of fighting, even in the church.
Westwoud and Binnenwijsd
The Dutch count favored Westwoud a little over the other locations mentioned. The pastor had to perform a lot of outside services for the count and the villagers did not receive enough attention. That is why they later asked Spanish Philips for a more permanent pastor. That didn't help for long. After the separation of Binnenwijsd, Westwoud became impoverished. The apostolic missionary who cared for Binnenwijsd eventually became the only one who provided pastoral care for the entire community. Afterwards, Westwoud received clergy again who were very faithful to the old doctrine and resisted the reformation that invaded. The villagers also remained obediently Catholic, but the new doctrine came in through the skippers and fishermen from Enkhuizen and Hoorn. The pastor of Binnenwijsd hung his bar on the coat rack and left. However, he was too Roman for his new sheep and so the Protestants went to the 'pagan church' of Westwoud where an ordinary fisherman led the way somewhat clumsily.
However, the reformed congregation in Westwoud remained small; the Catholic community proved to be tougher and grew considerably during the secret church period. During the patriotic period, Catholics dared to step out more and although the Westwoud secret church was quite large, the plan arose to build something even bigger. To replace the barn church from 1771, the architect Th. was commissioned in the mid-19th century. Molkenboer to build a more dignified church.
The current church
Molkenboer was a multi-builder. He would later build Gothic or (if desired) Romanesque, but in his early days he built in the neo-classical Waterstaat style. In this neighborhood he built two small churches for Wester- and Oosterblok. Collaboration would have been obvious, so that they could have built a somewhat larger church there, which could better compete with the medieval large Pancratius Church. In Westwoud, Molkenboer was able to do a bit more.
He built a spacious neoclassical three-aisled cruciform church with a semicircular apse. Actually in Waterstaat style. Waterstaat churches are more beautiful on the inside than on the outside, look at the Mozes in Amsterdam and the Groenmarkt Church in Haarlem. This church looks extremely boring from the outside. The only nice thing is the large tower with a wooden bell floor and a constricted needle spire. The church was consecrated in 1851. On the front facade you will see a memorial stone in honor of the Hageveld students who camped here with gentlemen (teachers) and all during the war years. But don't be fooled by the bland exterior; After all, it's all about the inside! On the inside, the church has plastered ribbed vaults and a rich neo-Baroque inventory. One feels like one is in Versailles! Some pieces still come from the old barn church, but the vast majority of church furniture dates from the construction period. Many parishioners dug into their purse and beautiful confessionals were created
Translated by Google •
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