Hillegom

History

Hillegom was formed on the eastern edge of the coastal dunes where the old Leiden to Haarlem route crossed the Hillegommerbeek (Hillegom's Creek), not far from the shores of the Haarlemmermeer (Haarlem's Lake). Places with the suffix "-heim" (or variant spellings) usually developed before the year 1000 and therefore it is assumed that this may apply to Hillegom as well. In 1150 the abbot of Egmond had the rights to naming priests in Hillegom, indicating that a church or chapel existed there. In 1248 the count Willem II gave the Chapel of Hijllinghem and all its buildings to the Abbot of Egmond. In the middle of the 14th century, Hillegom gained some prominence when the counts of Holland convened there 3 times for council. In 1369, there were 46 houses with a population of 283, growing to 67 houses and 412 people in 1477. During the Eighty Years' War, Hillegom found itself several times between the opposing Spanish and Dutch Rebel armies, resulting in its near destruction in 1577. But after the middle of the 17th century, the area became prosperous through the cultivation of fruits and vegetables, growing on the sandy soil of fields dug out the dunes. In 1722, the rich Amsterdam merchant Jan Six II bought the fiefdom Hillegom and built improvements, including a stone bridge over the Hillegommerbeek and a pump in the village square as well as paving a portion of the main road. In 1749, he purchased Het Hof (The Courtyard), an estate in the centre of Hillegom. At this time, there were many other estates of rich merchants and stadtholders in Hillegom, such as Bethlehem, Oostende, Horstendael, Weeresteyn, Treslong, Duin en Weg, Meer en Dorp, Het Hof, Lapinenburg and Elsbroek (many of these names survive as neighborhood names). The population grew to 930 in 1732 and to…

Geography

Hillegom is bordered by the municipalities of Bloemendaal (and formerly Bennebroek) to the north, Haarlemmermeer to the east, Lisse to the south, and Noordwijk (formerly Noordwijkerhout) to the west. The municipality covers an area of of which is water.

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Coot

  Fulica atra Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  37,738
• Common Chiffchaff

  Phylloscopus collybita (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  34,528
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  32,571
• Common Buzzard

  Buteo buteo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  31,760
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  31,160
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  30,894
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  30,234
• Gray/Purple Heron

  Ardea cinerea Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  29,175

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2008-10-11
  19 km WNW of Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands