De Wijk estates

Directions

• The village of De Wijk is first mentioned in 1383. De Wijk is closely linked with manor houses De Havixhorst, Dikninge, Dunnigen and Voorwijk and with the village IJhorst in Overijssel, across the river Reest. People used to say De Wijk was a village without a church and IJhorst was a church without a village.
• The walking route starts at chateau hotel and restaurant De Havixhorst. De Havixhorst is a manor house on an estate in the municipality of Meppel. The estate is situated along the beautiful river Reest. Farmers in Drenthe have settled on the sandy ridges along this river since the olden days. The old farmsteads soon began to try to outdo one another in terms of power and status. The more opulent the appearance and decoration, the higher the esteem. De Havixhorst is first mentioned in 1409, in the archive of the Dickninge abbey. The current country house dates back to 1753 and was inhabited by the noble De Vos van Steenwijk family until 1939. It has had many varying and temporary uses since. Restoration started in 1979, after which the house was opened as a chateau hotel and restaurant in 1982. In that year, the estate was also bought by the Het Drentse Landschap foundation and many more restoration work and extensions followed. The garden was newly landscaped in a Baroque style. It is currently being used as a herb garden for the restaurant and is open to the public. On the edge of the estate, at Lutteke Havixhorst - or 'De kleine Havixhorst’ (Little Havixhorst) – is the 'De Lokkerij' stork information centre.
• The route now leaves De Havixhorst behind and takes you towards De Wijk. The former Meppel-Balkbrug tram route is an interesting sight along the way. The Spoorweg-Maatschappij Meppel-Balkbrug (Railway Company) maintained the 21-kilometre steam tramline. The line had a 14-kilometre run through Drenthe, with the remaining seven kilometres across the border in Overijssel. The Spoorweg-Maatschappij Meppel-Balkbrug N.V. was founded on 28 September 1905. Its passenger transport came to an end in 1934, while freight transport was discontinued on 10 May 1939, signalling the end of the tramline. By September 1939, the rail track had already been completely demolished.
• The route passes Huize Voorwijk, built at the end of the 18th century by W. Tonckens. Around 1900, the house came into the ownership of the De Vos van Steenwijk family. Neither the House nor the garden are open to the public.
• De Wijk is home to the Wieker Meule mill, an octagonal tower mill dating back to 1829. The mill is almost completely thatched. The mill was owned by the Coöperatieve Landbouwbank (Agricultural Cooperative Bank) for a long time (since 1926) and part of the ground floor served as a small bank back in the day. It was abandoned in 1962 and fell into disrepair, but underwent thorough restauration in 1980 and has been owned by the Wieker Meule Foundation since 1996. A room on the ground floor houses Tourist Info Het Reestdal.
• The route now leaves De Wijk and takes you further into the rural areas. Another manor house by the name of Dunningen used to occupy the space between De Wijk and IJhorst. Unfortunately not much is known about this manor house, but it is likely that it was no more than a fortified farmstead. This farmstead was demolished around 1650. The last house was demolished around 1800.
• The walking route leads past the widely meandering river Reest that runs as a border between Drenthe and Overijssel, from Dedemsvaart to Meppel. The Reest has a gradient of only 5 metres over a distance of more than 30 kilometres and the width of the Reest valley is 100 metres on average. The small bog river springs in the former peat fields near Lutten. Several attractive manor houses and old farmsteads are dotted along both sides of the Reest near De Wijk. The Reest marks the border of the Dickninge estate. The Reest valley is home to many special plant species. The marsh marigold, but also rare species such as the great burnet, water sedge and red rattle put in an appearance.
• In the distance lies IJhorst, first mentioned in 1176 as a village consisting of 5 farmsteads along on the banks of the Reest, two of which were probably on the Overijssel side. The church in IJhorst is mentioned in 1292 and was dedicated to Saint Nicolas. The current building dates back to 1823. Below the choir is the crypt of the lords of Munster, dating from 1658. The crypt also contains the remains of the lords of Havixhorst and the abbots of Dickninge monastery. Next to the church, a foundation of boulders supports a belfry. Due to the construction of the monastery with church in Dickninge around 1325, there were close ties to the church in IJhorst. Legend has it that there used to be an underground passageway that connected both churches. This passageway has not been found to this day.
• Another country estate announces its presence during the walk: Dickninge estate. The 75-hectare Dickninge estate in English Landscape style has a turbulent past. In 1325, the monastery was moved from Ruinen to this spot and the churches in Beilen, Blijdenstein, Ruinen and Westerbork were served from here. After 1580, probably as a result of the 80-Year War, the monks had disappeared and the monastery was disbanded in 1603. Baron R.H. de Vos van Steenwijk became the new owner in 1795. He demolished all of the old buildings and started work on the current building, which was finished in 1813. The estate is home to various rare plants, including corydalis, wood anemone, arum lily, snowdrop and adoxa.
• The edge of the estate features a small rustic home hidden among greenery, with its function abundantly clear to see. This is a toll house, with a tollgate barring passage, although hikers and cyclists can pass easily. The route now takes you back to De Havixhorst. The ‘Landgoederen De Wijk’ walking route finishes here. Recharge your batteries in De Havixhorst to reflect on this amazing walk.