Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Gouda

GOUDA, or Ter Gouwe, a town of the Netherlands in the province of South Holland, at the confluence of tho Gouw with the Yssel, 12 miles N.E. of Rotterdam, at the junction of the railway from that city with the line between the Hague and Utrecht. The town is for the most part laid out in an open and lightsome manner, and like the other towns of Holland is intersected by numerous canals. Portions of the old fortifications are changed into promen ades, and the suburban quarters, Fluweelensingel, Bleekers- singel, Kattensingel, and Turfsingel, are adorned with fine trees. The Groote Markt is the largest market square in Holland. Among the churches five of which are Pro testant, two lloman Catholic, and one Old Catholic the first place belongs to the church of St John (Janskerk), a building of the 16th century, which replaced an earlier structure of the 15th, and which is not only remarkable for its dimensions, 345 feet in length and 150 feet broad, but possesses a celebrated organ, and a series of splendid painted windows, several of which are the workmanship of Dirk and Wouter Krabeth (1555-1603). (Compare Ex planation of the Famous and Renowned Glass Work, &c., Gouda, 1876, reprinted from an older volume, 1718.) Of the other public buildings it is sufficient to mention the town-house, with a fine Gothic fagade, founded in 1449, but rebuilt in 1690, the weigh-house, the house of correction for women, the gymnasium, St Catherine s hospital, and the music hall. A public library containing many rare and valuable works is kept in St John s church, and a muni cipal museum of antiquities was opened in 1874. In the time of the counts the wealth of Gouda was mainly derived from brewing and cloth weaving: about 1510, for example, the breweries numbered 156, and upwards of 1000 pieces of cloth were made in the course of the year ; but at a later date the making of tobacco pipes became the staple trade, and in the middle of the 18th century gave employment to 3000 men. Though this industry has in turn declined, Gouda still possesses large pipe works and potteries ; and among its other establishments are a celebrated manufactory of stearine candles, a yarn factory, an oil refinery, and cigar factories. It has also a good transit and shipping trade, and its market for cheese has made its name widely known throughout Europe. The population of the commune was, in 1796, 11,715; in 1830, 14,878; in 1850, 13,788; in I860, 14,843 ; and in 1870, after a slight addition of area, 16,233. At the last date the town proper numbered 15,174 inhabitants. The greater proportion belong to the Dutch Reformed Church, but nearly 5000 are Roman Catholics. Gouda received its constitution as a town from Count Floris V. in 1272. In 1382 it had only 820 houses; but it rapidly increased, and in the 14th century it was the fifth in size of the towns of Holland. The rise of Amsterdam made it only the sixth ; but it retained this position till the revolution of 1795. The principal facts in its history are the attack by the people of Utrecht in 1488; the repulse of the Spaniards in 1574; the de struction of the castle of the lords of Gouda in 1577 : the voluntary flooding of the surrounding country as a defence against the French in 1672 ; the great inundation of November 1775 ; and the riots of 1787.