Venhorst’s history stretches from its origins as a planned reclamation village laid out on the drawing board in the Peel region to traces of the former Peel landscape. For a first impression, the walk “WANDELING door het VENHORST van NU én TOEN” offers a clearly defined route: it starts at the De Horst community centre, Sint Josephplein 14, in Venhorst, is 1.7 kilometres long and takes about an hour. Check the route details again before setting out.
Traces in the village centre
The original buildings and the compact character of the village centre are still clearly visible. Venhorst’s village centre is exceptionally rare at both regional and national level. The village’s history can also be seen in individual buildings: the St. Corneliusschool on Sint Josephplein was built in 1932 and opened on 16 January 1933.
The Sint Josephkerk is a single-nave church with a T-shaped floor plan and a solid, square tower structure. From a cultural and historical perspective, it is an important element in Venhorst’s origins and village history, as well as an important part of Catholic life in the village.
The boulder of Norwegian granite on a stone plinth also stands on Sint Josephplein. It is designated a municipal monument and symbolises the pioneers’ work in reclaiming Venhorst. It thus points to a theme that also shaped the origins of the reclamation village. In 1936, four years after its founding, the village was renamed Venhorst.
Village planning and land reclamation along the routes
The Monumentenroute Boekel & Venhorst passes through Venhorst, founded in 1932 and planned on the drawing board as a village in the Peel region. The plan is still evident in the square’s regular layout and the long, straight streets. Those interested in the village’s origins will find a different perspective on the centre here than on the short walking tour: the focus is on the layout of the village as a whole.
The Ontginningsroute Boekel & Venhorst takes cyclists through the cultivated landscape created by land reclamation around Venhorst. The planned “new land” can be recognised by its straight roads and paths, as well as its drainage streams. The two routes therefore focus on different aspects: the Monumentenroute explores village planning, while the Ontginningsroute explores the shaping of the landscape. No distances or cycling times are given for either route; by contrast, the compact walk is specified as 1.7 kilometres and about an hour.
A remnant of the former Peel
Peellandschapspark Voskuilenheuvel preserves a small remnant of the former Peel, which was still undeveloped around 150 years ago. This area was never converted to farmland. The history of the landscape therefore sits alongside the history of planned land reclamation, without the two telling the same story.
The park includes Corsican black pines, a fishing pond created from a former gravel and sand extraction site, and small pools. In the D’n Horst area, small pools and low hills are intended to show what the former Peel might have looked like. The wording is deliberately open: it offers a possible impression of the former landscape, not an exact reconstruction.
Venhorst thus offers several concrete ways to explore its history: the compact walk starting at Sint Josephplein, the village’s visible planned layout, and the cultivated landscape shaped by paths, roads and drainage streams. The park adds a separate highlight: the preserved remnant of the former Peel. During your stay, you can choose between village history, a cycling route and the landscape, without combining the distinct routes and places into a single itinerary.
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