The dries is a pleasant open meadow in the village centre of Den Hout.
Grazing sheep provide peace and ecological balance in the heart of the village.
A nice location where you can have a picnic or relax in the shade under the old trees.
Historical interpretation:
Dries is a toponym, it already appears as driesch in a 13th-century Flemish document and then means 'wasteland'. This evolved into a name for a settlement form in Flanders and the South of the Netherlands. At a dries, you will find houses around a central square, which usually has a triangular shape. In some regions, the square has a more elongated shape. In the Middle Ages, this central square served as a common pasture (meent) for cattle and as a place where people were allowed to plant, so they were not allowed to build on it. At a dries, there is often also a drinking pool. The main farms of the village were usually located around the dries, with a few smaller houses attached. The triangular shape allowed the cattle to be rounded up at night by having to close in at only three places.