GORINCHEM – Archaeologists will have four weeks in August to dig the ground under the Barracks Square to investigate. This is done under the supervision of archaeologist Pieter Floore, who was also involved in the investigation of the Happy Corner and the castle of the Lords of Arkel at Wijdschild. Just like at those locations, surprising finds are expected again.
Former Citadel Barracks on the Kazerneplein.
The archaeologists can on the Barracks Square rightly so, because it has been closed to parking cars since mid-July. The paving has now been removed and the ground can be dug. An underground parking garage and homes will be built on the Kazerneplein in the coming period. According to the planning, construction of the garage will start in mid-October and construction of the homes will start in May of next year.
House of Paffenrode
Archival research has shown that the Barracks Square can be a very interesting area of research for archaeologists. Around 1595, the pensionary Adriaen van Weresteyn had a large country house built there in a large courtyard. Such inner-city gardens from the seventeenth century were world-leading in terms of garden architecture. The country house that was named 'House of Paffenrode' was demolished between 1755 and 1771. In 1826, construction began on the site of a barracks complex. The section where the country house stood was then used as a drill ground. The barracks complex was demolished in 1969.
Archive research does not show how the demolition of the country house and the barracks complex took place and whether the ground was disturbed in any way. It is therefore not known whether the traces of the past will still be present. But if the demolition of the buildings took place in the same way as on the Happy Corner, archaeological research can yield unique material. This could include the foundation of the country house and the remains of the seventeenth-century garden. These finds could provide a good picture of the life of the wealthy Gorcumers in the seventeenth century.
Compass Active
July 29, 1997.