History of the municipality

Origin of the municipality's name

The municipal name Tytsjerksteradiel is derived from the village name of Tytsjerk. In 1392, this village was called Thiatzercka, a personal name, possibly named after someone called Tiete. Tytsjerk = the church of Tiete. The municipality's name originated in the Middle Ages, when 'grieteniijen' (municipalities) existed instead of municipalities.

It's not certain why Tytsjerk was chosen to give its name to the grietenij (historical administrative division). Perhaps we should look for the reason in the village's water management location. The grietenijen, which originated between 1100-1300, were a union of villages in a water board association. The draining of the fertile peat bogs was probably done by the villages individually. However, the drainage of excess water had to be regulated jointly. For our grietenij, this concerned the discharge of water from the low eastern part via the low western lands to the Middelzee, and Tytsjerk was strategically located for this.

Altitude

In the clay and peat area, the soil of Tytsjerksteradiel is below sea level (N.A.P.). Especially the western part of the municipality is low-lying, with the exception of the Trynwâlden with Ryptsjerk. Due to this low location, people here have struggled with water a lot in the past.

During the flood of February 1825, the salt water penetrated into this municipality as far as the village of Earnewâld. The water there had risen so much on February 8th that it was 130 cm above the flat land. Furthermore, the whipped-up inland water had made its way through the villages of Suwâld, Garyp, and Sumar to the Rijksstraatweg. The lands below Wyns were also flooded. The sandy soils are much higher, with the soil locally up to 3 to 3.5 meters above Amsterdam Ordnance Datum. The hedgerows are found on the higher ground.

Ancient habitation

Tytsjerksteradiel has a long history of habitation. Research has revealed quite a bit about the habitation since the last ice age. In the vicinity of the Burgumer Mar, some archaeological finds have been made that indicate a very old habitation dating back to the Stone Age.

Stone tools from reindeer hunters have been found here. The subsequent inhabitants were hunter-gatherers from the Middle Stone Age. These people hunted animals such as deer and wild pigs. They also fished and gathered fruits and tubers.
Much later, people lived from peat extraction, fishing, agriculture (not only livestock farming, but also arable farming) and hunting. The scoop net, the scythe, and the hunting horn in the coat of arms of Tytsjerksteradiel refer to this.

Historical location determination

Little is known about the early history of Tytsjerksteradiel. Tytsjerksteradiel was one of the eleven 'grieteniijen' (municipalities) of the old Oostergo jurisdiction. In the Middle Ages, our municipality, also representing Smallingerland, formed the Leppa together with Leeuwarderadeel and Idaarderadeel.

This was an association that primarily looked after the water management interests of its members. A well-known case in our municipality was the Leppa's involvement with the sluice in the Lioedmersdam, later known as the Burgumerdaam.

In the Middle Ages, Friesland consisted of Oostergo, Westergo and Zevenwouden. Tytsjerksteradiel was located in Oostergo, which consisted of three districts. The core of Oostergo was called the Winninghe (consisting of the two districts, the so-called 'northern nine' and the 'Leppa') and our municipality was located in the middle of this. The village of Wyns is said to have given its name to the entire core of Oostergo, the Winninghe. The joint judges met in Wyns as the highest authority. This was the supreme court, where appeals were heard for certain cases. Why did such a small village have the highest court of the Winninghe? Probably because of its accessibility, fairly central and fairly easily accessible via the Dokkumer Ie.

Monasteries

In the 12th century, the Regular Canons founded the Bergklooster (or Barraconvent) in Burgum on the Kloosterlaan. This monastery was dedicated to "Sinte Nicolaas." This monastery was founded in the 12th century and had an important function with regard to peat extraction in the municipality of Tytsjerksteradiel.

The other two monasteries that our municipality has known were women's monasteries and were located in Bartlehiem (Bethlehem) near Aldtsjerk and Sigerswâld (monastery of Sinai) near Garyp.

The 'grietman' (predecessor of mayor)

Before the introduction of the Municipal Act in 1851, our municipality did not have a mayor but a 'grietman' (a Frisian administrative position). The 'grietmannen' were chosen or appointed in turn by cooperation between the Stadtholder and the Deputed States in Friesland.

A document from the year 1242 mentions a Grietman (a historical Frisian administrative position) in our municipality for the first time. This refers to the 'greetman in Ghetzerka', which is Gytsjerk.

Land use

In the 19th century, most of the land was used as agricultural land, both grassland and arable land. After 1875, the cultivation of potatoes, buckwheat, oats, and rye declined sharply, and grassland took its place. By 1940, the old heathlands had been completely reclaimed and transformed into agricultural land.

Redevelopment

Before the municipal reorganization of 1984, the land area of our municipality was larger than it is today. Due to a number of border corrections, the municipality ceded the Grote and Kleine Wielen and a part of the later national park the Alde Feanen.

Frisian municipality name and place names

By council decision of October 23, 1986, the use of the Frisian name of the municipality of Tytsjerksteradiel and the Frisian place names was officially established. The Frisian names are from then on the official names.

Following concerned reactions from the municipality's population, an amended council decision was taken on 18 June 1987. The biggest change in this proposal was the inclusion of the Dutch names of the villages in small letters on the place-name signs. But in fact, nothing changed with regard to the decision of October 1986 regarding the use of the Frisian names.