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27 October 1980

Mr H. Hofs from Varsseveld described the uncovering of the remains of an old ticheloven (brick kiln) in the hamlet of ’t Klooster near Bredevoort as a unique find. The kiln dates from 1708. The archaeological fieldwork group of the Antiquarian Working Community of Aalten, Dinxperlo, and Wisch (ADW) has been working for quite some time to carefully uncover the remains of the brick kiln.

The site of the old brick kiln was found partly thanks to Mr W. Lobeek, who used to live on the Götter farmstead. It was this former resident of ’t Klooster who was able to welcome at least eighty interested visitors to the excavation site on Saturday morning. The level of interest was so high that another excursion to ’t Klooster will be organised this coming Saturday. Mr R. Wartena, the regional archivist and an ADW board member, gave an introductory talk on what is known about the brick kiln.

It is virtually certain that this concerns the kiln of Matthijs van ’t Waliën. In return for his services – the planting of a large forest – he received, among other things, approval to build and operate a brick kiln here. The clay was allowed to be dug on the grounds of the monastery. Matthijs, however, was unable to meet his obligations. Many trees died immediately, and the severe winter of 1709 ensured that a third of the trees bit the dust.

Without ceremony

He saw no way to replant the trees, and in those days, protecting employment was not a priority. In 1719, Matthijs was forced to demolish the brick kiln within six months and to remove the bricks within a year. According to the agreement, the waarmanshuis (a worker’s or overseer’s cottage) had to remain standing. No trace of this cottage has been found so far. It is possible, however, that the Götter farmstead is the former waarmanshuis.

The kiln was indeed demolished, but apparently no further than ground level. The floor, with a surface area of 9 by 11 metres, and some small walls have remained, and the clay pits are also still clearly recognisable. Mr Hofs shared some details about the excavations, which the working group has been engaged in since July 1979. The investigations have yielded good results so far, even though they had hoped to find a few more traces in the immediate vicinity of the kiln.

The working group has mapped the remains and will cover them up again shortly. If they were to remain exposed to the open air, not much of them would be left.

In the course of the last century, excavation work repeatedly led to the discovery of the mortal remains of old-time residents of Aalten.

A burial vault collapsed

Nieuwe Aaltensche Courant, 9 July 1920

AALTEN – Throughout the whole of Thursday, Kosterstraat (= Köstersbulte, OA) held the full attention of the Aalten public. People stood in dense crowds around a particular spot close to the iron church gates, opposite the building of the Geld. Ov. Bankvereeniging. There were whispers of a burial vault, skulls, and so forth. The police kept the public, especially inquisitive youngsters, at a proper distance.

What had happened? In the morning, a heavy lorry belonging to Mr Jos. Driessen had driven right alongside the gates whilst swerving to avoid another cart. The driver naturally had no idea – as will indeed be the case for most inhabitants of Aalten – that he was driving over a section of the old churchyard that had formerly been laid out around the church. The remains of this churchyard were most clearly observable at the time “Elim” was built, where it was one vast charnel house beneath the ground.

It caught the attention of a passer-by that a sizeable “dent” had appeared in the street, which seemed to be growing steadily larger. Others were called over, and it now appeared as though a section of the ground had caved in. The municipal surveyor was summoned, as was the police, and by the time they turned up, the dent had become a large hole; rubble and mud had fallen onto a wooden coffin, which had collapsed as a result, revealing bones – there was no longer any room for doubt: a burial vault had collapsed.

An iron plate was immediately placed over it, and a hoarding erected around it, so that the public, who came to look in great numbers particularly during the afternoon, were not put in danger. During the afternoon, large quantities of sand were brought in, with which the burial vault was to be filled in during the coming night, after having been emptied.

The length of the vault runs from east to west. The brick arch appeared to be only a single brick thick, and so shallowly subterranean that the bricks of the arch almost touched the cobblestones of the street. It may therefore give cause for wonder that a collapse had not occurred sooner.

Old drawings still show that the churchyard used to extend close to the houses on Kosterstraat. Only a fairly narrow path ran between them. When the street was widened later on, a piece of the churchyard had to be taken away. When the old gates were erected – not the current ones, which were installed under the supervision of Mr H. Navis, who was already president-churchwarden at the time – a division was apparently driven straight through the burial vaults.

The question now is whether there might be more of these weak spots. In our view, it is highly desirable that an investigation be launched into this. Mr Navis informed us – as the older ones among us will remember – that Kerkstraat also used to be much narrower.

In those days, there was a door on that side of the church – that is to say, leading from the chancel – while a flight of steps ran from the door down to the street. During the last restoration of the church, this door was removed along with the two side doors near the tower. When it became apparent that digging away the ground by the street had caused a crack to form in the vaulting of the church, a section of wall three quarters of a metre wide was erected (on the site of the former door) and secured into the ground with anchors to prevent further subsidence.

It is therefore by no means impossible that, given the churchyard extended a considerable distance from the church, further weak spots exist in one or more of the streets surrounding the church.

Early this morning, under the direction of the municipal surveyor, the remains of the coffin and the corpse were gathered from the grave. The grave proved to be 85 cm wide and 2.10 m long.

In 1973, during restoration work at the Old St Helen’s Church in Aalten, carpenter Henk Heijnen stumbled upon a burial vault beneath the choir containing three coffins with human remains. At the order of the church board, the vault was swiftly resealed. However, before this happened, Heijnen had already climbed inside to meticulously measure and photograph everything. In 2019, Heijnen completed a wooden replica of the burial vault.

Measured and Resealed

As always, Heijnen had a folding rule, a carpenter’s pencil, and paper with him. Before the vault was closed again, he measured the space precisely, noted the dimensions and initials, and made sketches and photographs of the vault, the inscriptions, and the dates. On the wall of the vault were the initials IHW with the year 1746, GWA with the year 1815, and DR, without a date. He preserved all these notes and images.

Meanwhile, his employer had informed the church council. Around ten o’clock that evening, the members of the church board arrived at the church, accompanied by the Reverend Van der Heiden. The minister pointed out that no one should descend into the vault as it would constitute grave robbery. Because the restoration was being carried out without the involvement of the National Heritage Agency (Monumentenzorg) and there were fears that the work would be halted, Heijnen was sworn to strict secrecy. At the request of the church board, he had to seal the manhole with concrete as soon as possible.

While he was closing the opening, Jan Tinnevelt entered the church once more. Upon realising what had been found, he was again politely requested to leave.

In the week following the discovery, work began on laying the new natural stone floor in the choir, permanently sealing the access to the burial vault. Only Heijnen’s notes and his employer’s photographs remained as a source. Shortly after the completion of the choir, national news channels reported the discovery of a burial vault in the Old St Helen’s Church; it is not known who leaked this information.

Research and Replica

It was only years later, during a trip to Israel with his wife, that Henk Heijnen visited a burial vault in Jerusalem. This gave him the idea to build a replica of the burial vault in the Old St Helen’s Church.

He produced new construction drawings and came into contact with Herbert Welling from Bocholt and Thaddeus van Eijck from Bredevoort, both of whom were interested in cultural heritage. The trio hit it off, and their combined research led them to the historian J. Grooteboer from Borne.

They discovered that Lambert Joost von Hambroick and his wife Mechteld Anna Bentinck van Diepenheim were closely connected to St Helen’s Church. In 1706, they donated two silver communion cups to the Aalten church, which were later found in a safe within the church.

Completion of the Replica

In 2019, Heijnen completed a wooden replica of the burial vault. Two employees from Broekhout used his drawings to recreate the frame exactly. Heijnen personally handled the painting, including the initials and other details. The replica was later put on public display in the Helenahuis, opposite the church on Landstraat.

Dagblad Tubantia, 5 August 1969

The engaged couple Ossendorf-Hubers in Aalten has no reason to feel down. On the contrary! Their engagement will soon be followed by marriage, and they are already busy furnishing a brand-new home on Molenstraat. And yet, this very house gives Mr. Ossendorf and his future wife reason to be careful not to literally end up in the well—the well found in the garden just behind the house, which is nearly fourteen meters deep.

At this location—as the name Molenstraat suggests—the Aalten mill once stood, the last remains of which were removed last year in the spring. Now, four beautiful homes stand there. The well is over a hundred years old and is constructed of heavy masonry. It belonged to the mill, and the former miller, Mr. Klomps, recalled that the well was to be found somewhere in this vicinity. The future residents of the houses were also informed. All four houses are currently still vacant, but work is already well underway in the gardens. In these gardens, four heavy millstones have since been found.

Mr. Ossendorf also went in search of such objects and the well. After a few “test drillings,” it did not take long before both the millstone and the well were located. That is to say: the well was covered with a millstone. With great effort, the stone—which was no longer in very good condition—was removed in pieces, and the couple then gazed into the depths. According to local residents, the well must have supplied the entire neighborhood with water in the latter part of the previous century. The water is currently at a depth of about thirteen meters. Consequently, the houses will not be much troubled by groundwater. Following tradition, this mill was also built on the highest part of the village.

The well has a diameter of one meter, and climbing bolts have been bricked into the wall, allowing one to descend. Since its rediscovery, no one has yet ventured this experiment. It is unknown what will happen to the deep well. Filling it in or developing it into a beautiful antique well with a lever, for example. That is still a matter of consideration. The latter seems appealing, but in the back of one’s mind, there is also the thought of filling it in before any accidents occur.