Reghthuisplein in Nieuwkoop

According to the legend of Nieuwkoop, the place originated because a group of vagrants passed through in the twelfth century and got a broken wagon wheel, after which they decided to settle there permanently. This wagon wheel was later included in the Coat of Arms of Nieuwkoop. However, the first inhabitants of Nieuwkoop were not vagrants, but people who settled there for peat reclamation. From this peat reclamation, a body of water emerged on both sides of the dike, one of which has been drained, and the other has turned into a nature reserve now known as the Nieuwkoopse Plassen. In the drained polder, ditches were dug to keep the pasture dry, which inadvertently led to subsidence. To determine who could reclaim a piece of marshland, the agreement called cope was used. Each new piece was thus a new cope. From this, the name Nieuwkoop arose.

On the Reghthuysplein stands the Reghthuys and the Reghthuystoren. The Reghthuys is a rectangular building from 1628 (year on the facade, see above) with a gable roof.
At the front, there is a richly detailed gable with pilaster arrangements, windows with wooden cross frames and shutters, and a top pediment with a sculpted crowning lion. Furthermore, there are six decorative anchors and a justice statue in a niche above the entrance. Above the windows, there are facade stones with the inscription 'DISCITE IVSTITIAM', which means: 'Learn to practice justice'.

When Johan de Bruyn van Buytewech became 'Lord and Master' of the Lordship of Nieuwkoop in 1617, he had a spacious residence built in 1627 with a tower that still adorns the Reghthuysplein. The residence, soon called the Hooge Huys, has unfortunately disappeared. Due to the danger of collapse, the building was demolished in the nineteenth century except for the sturdy tower. In the brick skin of the tower, the passages that once gave access to the higher floors of the mansion can still be seen.

To keep contact with officials separate from his private life, Johan had a second building erected diagonally opposite his residence for aldermen, trade keepers, and other people he dealt with as an administrator.
The construction took place in 1628 when the Dutch were building the most charming houses in their cities, while Admiral Piet Hein captured the Spanish Silver Fleet to assist those same Dutch in acquiring gold, silver, and other treasures.
Soon, the beautiful, detached building was called 'Reghthuys', because there were rogues among the Nieuwkopers, for whom justice had to be spoken. At the top of the facade, the coats of arms of Johan and his wife Cornelia van Duyvelandt of Rhoon still shine, just like on one side of the tower, while on the facade of the Reghthuys next to Lady Justice, the gilded motto can be found: 'Discite Ivstitiam', learn to practice justice. At the bottom of the building, there was a dungeon, where the condemned scum could be temporarily locked up.

Two centuries later, the building was used as a Town Hall, which lasted until 1933. After the Hendrick de Keyser Monument Preservation Society purchased the building in 1949 as a protected monument, it was carefully restored from 1959 to 1961 and returned to its original state.

The Reghthuystoren is open to visit. From the 35-meter-high Reghthuystoren, you have a wide view over the entire Nieuwkoopse Plassen on one side and the polder land on the other side. Binoculars are available on-site, but don't forget to bring your own camera.

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