Benneveld: Village Scene, Brink and Landscape

Benneveld combines a protected village scene with a distinctive Brink, historic farmhouses and a landscape whose care also includes the roadsides. This offers several specific perspectives when choosing a destination: the village layout around the Brink, an exhibition featuring art images in five villages, and natural features on the edge of the Westerstroom valley. A hiking route and a local tradition are also part of the picture. In Benneveld, architectural, cultural and landscape themes come together.

Village Scene and Farmhouses

Benneveld is designated as a protected village scene. At its centre, a spacious, triangular Brink lies at the intersection of Bennevelderstraat and Westersteeg. Several attractive farmhouses dating from the 18th and 19th centuries stand nearby. These include typical Saxon farmhouses whose rear faces the road. The Brink, road junction and farmhouse buildings shape the village scene with their varied forms and sightlines.

Ovingegoed, at Bennevelderstraat 18, is one of the oldest known farmhouses in the former parish of Zweeloo. Alongside the period in which the farmhouses around the Brink were built, this site brings the history of the former parish into focus. The rural heritage can thus be explored both through the houses near the village centre and through an individual farmhouse identified by its address.

Art on the Brinks

The BuitenExpositie comprises twenty panels featuring images of paintings on the characteristic Brinks of the five villages of Aalden, Benneveld, Meppen, Wezup and Zweeloo. Benneveld is therefore part of an exhibition that spans several villages. The panels bring art images to places that are also part of each village’s character. This adds another cultural dimension to the view of the farmhouses and the layout of the Brink. If you are interested in both historic village layouts and art in the open air, this offers a specific example that brings the two together.

Landscape and Ecological Management

Benneveld lies on higher sandy soils at the edge of the Westerstroom valley. The roadsides are also part of the local landscape: from 2017, Benneveld switched to ecological management. This creates more diverse vegetation; the roadsides are rich in herbs and provide an attractive habitat for wild bees, butterflies and other insects. The valley-edge location and the management of the roadsides are two distinct aspects of the area’s natural character: one describes its geographical location, the other a specific change in how the roadsides are managed.

Hiking Trail, Flock of Sheep and Local Tradition

The hiking trail from Benneveld to Aalden passes through the De Klencke nature area. The Schaapskooi Benneveld is listed as stop 11 on the Klenckeroute. The Drenthe Heath sheep of the Schaapskudde Benneveld graze on home pastures and in small nature areas in and around the villages of the former municipality of Zweeloo. The flock’s connection to the landscape thus extends beyond a single place and includes the villages of the former municipal area.

Another local feature is the Boerhoorn. Currently, one of the representatives of the Benneveld Boermarke blows the instrument before the annual meeting begins or, on request, at an event. The custom links the annual meeting with the instrument’s optional use at events, adding a local tradition to the area’s nature and culture themes.

Discover more destinations: Dalen, Wezuperbrug, Stieltjeskanaal, Dalerveen, Zweeloo, Schoonoord, Wezup, Noord-Sleen.

For the main travel overview: Coevorden.