Scheepjes Church Groenendijk

According to the Memorial register, pastor Schadé founded “The chapel at the Groenendijk” in 1671. Previously, services were held in the farm “De Steenenpoort” or in the Zwaantjeskerk. The chapel was located to the southwest of the current church and later formed a single entity with the back sitting room and the kitchen of the rectory built in 1818.

The church, which had no tower, consisted of three sections separated by two rows of wooden pillars. The floor of the chapel was covered with reed mats and the roof with blue tiles. The entrance of the chapel was located on the north side. The chapel was dedicated to Saint Nicholas, and a small tower was placed on it featuring a sailing ship (Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, hence it served as a weather vane).

As the chapel soon proved to be too small, the decision was made to build a new, larger church. The big question that arose at the time was: Where should the new church be located, at the Groenendijk or at Zoeterwoude Rijndijk in the Meerburg district (the current Meerburg church was only built at the end of the 19th century).

The bishop of Haarlem, Mgr J.F. van Vree found the solution: In a location easily accessible, right in the middle, at the inn “I still learn”. Pastor Wesselingh disagreed entirely with this. As a compromise, it was decided to make the construction site partly dependent on the financial contribution of the parishioners. In the Meerburg district, an amount of Fl. 1500 was raised while in the Groenendijk more than Fl. 15000 was collected. Thanks in part to the generous donations from the brothers Adrianus and Wouterus Reynaard, who each donated Fl. 5000. Because of these donations, it was decided to build the new church near the existing chapel in the Groenendijk. Architect Vogelpoel was commissioned to design a new church in neo-Gothic style. Construction began on September 1, 1854, and on August 20, 1855, the church building was consecrated by Everardus Stephanus van der Hagen, pastor and dean in Zoeterwoude. Since November 2013, the church has been designated as a municipal monument.

routeburo