Bos of Bosman

The Bos van Bosman is a park in the Dutch city of Leiden, located between the Blauwe Vogelweg, the Wassenaarseweg, and the Rijnsburgerweg in the Vogelwijk. In the Middle Ages, up to 1420, the castle Paddenpoel stood on this site, and later, until 1574, the Mariënpoel monastery was located here. After that, the area was left fallow, although there were tennis courts around 1900. The 'forest' is named after the industrialist and multimillionaire A.G. Bosman, who purchased the 20-hectare site in 1917. He had architect J.W. Hanrath build a country house named Nieuweroord, after the Drenthe peat colony Nieuweroord, from where Bosman's wife originated. The renowned landscape architect Leonard Springer was allowed to design the outdoor space. In this design, the part along the Rijnsburgerweg was arranged as a front garden, with a driveway in the shape of a semicircle, and the rear along the Wassenaarseweg was set up as a walking forest, featuring ponds, plant houses, and an orchard.

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