Travalje Burgh-Haamstede - Burgh-Haamstede

These days, the travalje in Burgh-Haamstede is surrounded by terrace tables. Yet this eye-catcher cannot be missed. The specimen is a double travalje, because many people around Haamstede had horses. So plenty of work for village blacksmith Kees Gilijamse. However, he had his travalje inside the forge. How did an outdoor hoof stable come to be on the Ring around the church after all?

Gilijamse sold his forge in 1932 to Leen Giljam, who subsequently became the new village blacksmith. In 1944, Giljam got the licence to build a horse hoof shed outside in front of his forge; the current spot. For this, he also had to rent a piece of municipal land. This cost him 16.50 florins a year, plus a contracting fee of 450 guilders to build the travalje.

The mayor only allowed the open-air stable to be used for its intended purpose: trimming and shoeing horses' hooves. Giljam also had to keep the grounds clean and was not allowed to store things or put up advertisements.

Many horses stood in this travalje to have their hooves trimmed; from the old-fashioned coffee-brown Schouwse horses, to the sturdy Zeeuws-Vlaanderen draught horses. Occasionally a cow was helped to fused or inflamed hooves.

After 1959, P.C. Kloet took over the village forge. He lived in the building on the corner of Ooststraat-Ring, where there is now a lunchroom.

Every year during the Open Monument Days in September and during the Ring Promotion Days in the summer months, horses are traditionally shod in the travalje again.