Protestantse Kerk
Hoogkarspel, NL
The current Reformed Church of Hoogkarspel had two, probably three predecessors. The first church must have been a small tuff chapel that was later replaced by a late Gothic church dedicated to Laurentius. This church is at least mentioned in a deed from 1514. An engraving by H. Spilman after Cornelis Pronk from 1726 shows a church with a large tower. The building is briefly described in Van der Aa: '... an old building, that still stands well on its foundations and is provided with a tower with a stone spire. In the past, there was a house organ, which was donated to this church by Mr. P. van den Willigen, Councillor in the Vroedschap and Mayor of the city of Enkhuizen, but this was replaced in 1802 by a completely new one, which was paid for from the church fund. There is also a very neat and efficient public cemetery laid out in 1829, and a parsonage built in 1839, which is the most beautiful house between Hoorn and Enkhuizen. In 1859 the church was in such a bad state that "the Chief Engineer of the Water Board" was asked for advice on restoration or new construction. The latter was decided upon. The design for the new church came from D. and L. van der Tas, architects in Schiedam and Sloten. The foundation stone for the second church building was laid on 19 October 1860, and on 4 May 1862 the church was put into use. The very beautiful neo-Gothic church had, judging from old postcards, a matching interior. The building was a polygonal central structure of brick and stucco. Unfortunately, little of the old interior was saved and/or brought to the current church. The new church showed serious structural problems in 1909 due to subsidence due to an inadequate foundation. A major restoration prevented collapse, but only led to a postponement of the need for demolition and new construction. The new church was built in 1966, based on a design by the architects CH Bekink and J. Bijleveld. The church has a freestanding tower. It was built because the old church had become too large. On the north side of the current church, a number of gravestones from the first church can still be found in the pavement. It is not known whether they were removed from the old church and given a new resting place here or whether they were never moved from their place but suddenly ended up outside the church walls when the second and especially the third church became smaller.