GORINCHEM – Amateur archaeologist Martin Veen (35) and his colleagues from the Gorcum archaeological working group have already completed a year of work when the excavator excavates the first layer of soil on Monday. Barracks Square removed. “An archaeological investigation like this requires a lot of preparation. It is not a matter of just sticking a spade in the ground and digging for Huis Paffenrode,” says Veen.
The working group consists of representatives of the Archaeological Working Group Netherlands, the Historical Soil Research Foundation, the City Archives. Then Gorcum Museum and the municipality of Gorinchem. For Veen, who is affiliated with the Historical Soil Research Foundation, the search for the Paffenrode House is not the first archaeological investigation. He was also intensively involved in uncovering the foundations of the Arkel Castle and the research on the Happy Corner.
Detail card Joan Blaeu with the Paffenrode house in the middle
Veen took his first cautious steps on the archaeological path in his youth. “It started with collecting pipe bowls, but that has changed in the meantime. I think locating and mapping finds is more important. Some things are better left in the ground. That way they are best preserved.”
Still, actually holding finds in your hands has its charm, Veen believes. He does not know whether that is also the reason for the twenty volunteers to sign up for the work on the Kazerneplein. “We work with enthusiastic people, some of whom already have experience with previous excavations. The first job is to remove the top layer. This is done with an excavator.”
Veen hopes to discover the complete foundations of Huis Paffenrode in the most favourable case. "On the spot where the house stood, nothing else was probably ever built. When the barracks were built, that part was left undeveloped so that the soldiers had an exercise area near the barracks. The best thing, however, would be if we also discover elements of the French gardens that surrounded the house.
Only one image of the Paffenrode house is known so far. "The house is drawn on a city map by Johan Blaeu that was made around 1600. Perhaps there are other images, of which the owner does not know that it concerns the Paffenrode house. It would be great if we could learn more about this estate and its residents in the coming weeks," says Veen. He and his colleagues have been given four weeks to do the research.
The Dordrecht resident
August 9, 1997