Ring village

The ring village is one of the oldest village types and very characteristic of Zeeland. The ring villages date from the period before the systematic dikes and occur in the oldland areas of Schouwen-Duiveland, Tholen, Walcheren and Zuid-Beveland and in western Zeeland-Flanders. The villages, like most old roads, lie on the creek ridges. The village centre has a more or less round shape with the church in the middle. An important part of the ring village is the church ring. This road or street is not always round, but sometimes has a rectangular, triangular or other shape. In these cases, it is often a street pattern that was originally a trip or intersection of roads. By constructing a new connecting road, the ring shape was created. Inside the ring is the often higher cemetery with the church. On the outside, the ring has a usually closed building. Most of the other village roads reach the ring. In the past there was often a canal around the cemetery, but this is now very rare (only in Dreischor and Noordgouwe). Another characteristic element in the center is the vaete (drinking well), especially on Zuid-Beveland very common. The ring villages initially consisted of agricultural buildings. In general, the farms have now disappeared from cultivated areas and the land has been seized by non-agricultural buildings. The ring village can be built on a terp and can be compared to the Frisian and Groninger terp villages in terms of spatial structure. A ring village originally does not have a front street, it was sometimes laid out later, creating a ring-front village. One of the most beautiful and best known examples of a ring village is Dreischor on Schouwen-Duivenland. Here is the central church around which the cemetery is located, bordered by a canal. Around it runs the ring street with adjacent houses. Outside the first ring there is a second ring of streets and houses. Schouwen-Duiveland: Dreischor, Haamstede, Kerkwerve, Nieuwerkerk, Noordgouwe, Noordwelle, Ouwerkerk, Renesse, Serooskerke Walcheren: Ritthem, Aagtekerke, Biggekerke, Gapinge, Grijpskerke, Kleverskerke, Koudekerke, Meliskerke, Oostkapelle, Serooskerke, Zoutelande North and South Beveland: Eversdijk, Kapelle, Kloetinge, Nisse, Oudelande, Oud-Sabbinge, Schore, ‘s-Heer-Abtskerke,’s-Heer-Hendrikskinderen, Sinoutskerke, Waarde. Tholen: Poortvliet, Oud-Vossemeer Zeeuwsch-Vlaanderen: Cadzand, Groede, St. Cross