Commissioner's House

Commissioner's house from the Trekweg to Delft. Cross house of ground floor with high hipped roof, built XVII b after the construction of the Trekweg Delft-Leiden, for which a patent was granted in 1636. The seven-window wide house has checkered stretches above the windows, sliding windows with rod division XVIII and shutters for the lower windows and above the door the arms of Leiden and Delft.

Until the mid-19th century, water transport was by far the best way to move people and goods. Land transport was expensive and slow, the roads were poor. At the beginning of the 17th century, due to the improving economy, there was a need for better and faster connections. The barge services brought a solution. A fairway and a towpath, also called a towpath, were needed. Delft had been working for some time to establish a faster connection to Leiden via Leidschendam.

The dam in the Vliet in Leidschendam has been an obstacle since the Romans. Cargo and people had to be unloaded, the boat pulled over the dam and everything loaded again. And there were bets (shallows) in the Vliet between Leidschendam and Leiden. Advance farmers carried their cattle through those fords to and from their land across the street and refused to give them up. And there was no towpath. When the barge service (1632) between Amsterdam and Haarlem proved to be a success, Leiden did not want to be left behind and decided to cooperate with Delft.

In two years, the route was plotted. The towpath came from Leidschendam on the east side of the Vliet, on Leiden territory. This circumvented the difficulties with Voorschotense peasants during the expropriations. The towpath was equipped with 13 bridges and culverts, which gave access to a ditch behind the towpath. The farmers now had to transfer their cattle and agricultural products by boat. They could then reach their plots under the bridges via the shipping ditch. Just past the Hofweg (near Allemansgeest) the trek road was shifted to the west side of the Vliet. There was a chimney (a flat-bottomed boat) to transfer horse and hunter (rider) to the other side.

In 1636 it was officially commissioned. The Delft-Leiden trip (and vice versa) took 3 hours. With 500 passengers a day in the first year, it was a success. The costs were recouped through tolls by the commissioner. There was a strict timetable with eight departures per day. That was quite a difference from the turn springs (sailing ships, depending on the wind), which often only sailed twice a week. Until the mid-19th century, when roads were paved and the train made its appearance, water transport was indispensable.

What did this mean for Voorschoten? Of course, the construction led to grumpiness among the farmers, who had to make more effort to cross the Vliet, but the regular services also brought more visitors and trade. You could get to the cities faster and more comfortably for business or family visits and the mail was delivered faster. To this day, the towpath is recognizable by the bicycle path on this side of the Vliet. The rounded bridge railings on the Vliet side refer to the line between horse and ship that was not allowed to snag.

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