HISTORY

HISTORY

Herb centre
In the Middle Ages St. Barbara's Convent was located in Noordwijk Binnen. The nuns of this monastery devoted themselves tot the cultivation of herbs. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Noordwijk was the primary herb centre in the Netherlands. The herbs were traded mostly in Amsterdam and eventually used in medicine. Towards the end of the nineteenth century the herb industry disappeared, due to the rise of chemically prepared medicines.

Bulb exhibitions Bulb cultivation emerged as the successor to herb cultivation. From 1880 the number of bulb growers and bulb fields grew to 250 and 252 hectares respectively, by the end of the nineteenth century. Tulips, daffodils and gladioli were grown, amongst other flowers. Noordwijk earned a national and international reputation for its impressive bulb exhibitions. In 1932 a Flora park was set up within the Offem country estate. Furthermore, Noordwijk entries could be admired at foreign bulb exhibitions and subsequently also in the flower exhibitions, which was good for the export of flower bulbs and later on also of flowers. Today the Noordwijk bulb area covers 311 hectares. The majority of bulb fields lie behind the dunes as the sandy soil there is extremely suitable for cultivation.

City rights
In the middle Ages Noordwijk was a proper medieval city, which meant that it was controlled by a bailiff and aldermen. The bailiff, a position that can be best compared tot that of the present mayor, was appointed by the liegelord, the Count of Holland. Noordwijk got city rights in 1398, which the town's inhabitants had requested themselves. The nobles were ignorant of this, as they had not been consulted. The infact, did not want thos cities rights, as that would limit their own powers. One condition to keep the city rights to was to build a wall around the city. But the wall was never built. Therefore, the city rights were cancelled and Noordwijk continued tot be a seigniory village under Burgundian and Astrian rule.

Fishermen
The first inhabitants of Noordwijk were most likely fishermen. The first “vierboet was built in 1444” (on the site of the current Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin). A “vierboet” is a an open fire on a plateau. Thanks to this beacon, fishermen could find the beach at night. Back in 1474 Noordwijk had an extensive fleet of 38 large & small ships, which left from the beach as there was no harbour. They caught herring, cod, haddock, whiting and plaice.