Noordwijk Church
This church is the starting point of the 12 kilometer long 'Leedaanzeggerspad', a route that, in the 19th century, before telephone, telegraph and smartphone, a 'preacher' would follow with a special task: to report door-to-door in Noordwijk and surroundings and inform them of the demise of a fellow inhabitant. Visitors can now join the route and follow the path over the remaining paths and vanished roads. And remember: 'The mortuis nil nisi bene'.
About this building
Many of the historical decorations of the church have been covered: plaster layers from the 19th century cover the late medieval cloister mummies and in the north wall of the choir there is a bricked-up priest entrance. Inside the church is a pulpit from around 1600, together with the doophek that was originally from Leek and was moved to Noordwijk in 1752.
In the roof turret hangs a clock from 1712 on which the name of Carel Ferdinand, Count von Inn- und Kniphausen can be seen, most likely as they commissioned its construction.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the doophek was found redundant and demoted to stable fencing somewhere in the village. A few years later the fence came back and the baptismal garden was restored to its former glory. Occasionally there is a service in this church, as well as exhibitions, concerts and lectures.