Nieuw Beerta Church

Dutch Reformed Church. Closed-end hall church with a saddle roof between gables from 1751. Originally a garrison church. It was a multifunctional building: the attic served as a storage space for ammunition and hay, and behind the church were two horse stables. In the 19th century, the church lost its function as a garrison church: the attics disappeared and the interior was given a vault. At the back of the church, the prisoner's bench for soldiers in detention is still located. The church was restored in 2001. The inventory includes a 19th-century pulpit and four text boards from 1824, originating from the Der Aa-kerk in Groningen. Organ (national monument) with one manual, made in 1874 by H. Knipscheer for the Reformed Church in Schoonhoven, placed in Nieuweschans in 1925 and restored by W. van der Putten in 2009. Five semi-circular closed windows. Above the entrance is a foundation stone from 1751.

The church building was built at the beginning of the thirteenth century. Originally it was a Romanesque-Gothic cruciform church. But in 1600 the transepts were demolished. From that time on it is no longer a cruciform church. In the same period the church building was lowered 5.5 meters and a choir section was added to the church. In 1970 the church was thoroughly restored. The pews were removed from the choir. In the choir section you can find gravestones and a burial vault. The foundation stone for the tower, which is separate from the church, was laid on June 16, 1820 and was completed 2 years later. The tower is built on 96 piles. On the spire is not a rooster, but a horse.

This church has been modified heavily over the years. Once upon a time there was a triforium, a 'gallery' high in the church, which ran in front of the windows, and it was an impressive late Roman cruciform church. Of this, only the heavily modified vessel from around 1275 remains. After a major fire in 1586 the cross was demolished, the church was lowered over 5 meters and the choir was added.