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Sint-Annaland Ring-Voorstraatdorp en de meekrap

Madder stove

After the roots of the three-year old madder plant were harvested, they were stored in madder stoves. A madder stove consisted of three parts: a shed (the cold stove) in which the roots were dumped on arrival; a drying tower with an oven for rapid drying and in which the roots were purified; and a stamping house where the roots were pulverised by large stampers, driven by horsepower. Due to the high investment costs, several farmers (usually sixteen) were joint owners of one madder stove, a very early form of an agricultural cooperative. In Sint-Annaland there were two stoves for a long time. The ‘Hersteller’ and the ‘Eensgezindheid’. The last one was demolished in 1916. The names Stoofstraat, Stoofdijk and Stoofweg still remind us of this industry.

Church

Shortly after the diking off, a church was also established within the ring. Sint-Annaland already had a priest in 1485. The church was dedicated to Saint Ann, the mother of Mary. During the eighty-year war, the building was badly damaged. In the great fire of 23 May 1692, the vast majority of the village went up in flames, but the church was spared.
In 1899, however, the building was demolished. It was felt that restoration would be too expensive. A new church was designed by architect Bruijnzeel. This was completed in 1900 and was considerably expanded in 1957.

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