In the Footsteps of Hilde is a walk through a part of the village of Castricum with a rich and turbulent past.
You walk from the House of Hilde (the provincial archaeology center on Westerplein) to Dorpsstraat with the 12th-century tufa stone Village Church and the old Town Hall (now a hotel and grand café), via Schoolstraat, the Ciebeek, and Molendijk to the location where Hilde, a young woman from the 4th century, was found during archaeological excavations.
The route is marked in both directions with yellow arrows.
History through the Lordship of Castricum
Two centuries before the beginning of our era, when the open connection between the North Sea and the Oer-IJ silted up here, the higher parts of the marshy area were inhabited. Around the 3rd century AD, there was a fairly large settlement, of which many traces have been found.
In the Middle Ages, the hamlets developed, including the Kerkbuurt (at choice point 17) and the Oosterbuurt (at choice point 20), and Castricum acquired its village church. At that time, authority rested with the Count of Holland, who leased this part of his county to a lord of the manor. In the 13th century, Simon van Haarlem was the first lord of the manor; thus, Castricum became a lordship. From 1664 to 1802, several generations of the wealthy Amsterdam merchant family Geelvinck were the lords of the manor of Castricum.
On October 6, 1799, the decisive battle was fought near Castricum between the Franco-Batavian troops and the Anglo-Russian invasion army. French rule would last until 1813. Throughout all those centuries, Castricum remained a village of farmers and market gardeners. The arrival of the railway in 1867 ushered in a new era. More and more people settled in Castricum.
To the west of the railway line, most of the buildings were demolished during the Second World War to make room for the Atlantic Wall, with which Nazi Germany intended to defend itself. But fortunately, after the war, reconstruction could begin.
This route was developed by Stichting Werkgroep Oud-Castricum . On the foundation's website, you can order an accompanying route booklet with stories along the route.
