Wolfheze was an old village on the Veluwe that entirely disappeared in the 17th century. It was only rediscovered recently, along with some of its history.
Heldring
At the beginning of the 19th century, Reverend O.G. Heldring was walking with a friend across the heath to Heelsum. A local resident showed him a mound called kapellenheuvel (chapel hill). Heldring let a piece of tufa stone fall on the ground and heard the hollow echo of a vault. This led to an excavation in 1846, which was quickly suspended, however, as the landowner had not given his permission. Only through the persistence of the Oosterbeek engineer, Groneman, was a new excavation started in 1888. The remains of an old church were indeed discovered, with many gravestones. The skeletons disintegrated as soon as they were touched. No vaults were found.
Reconstruction
New investigations have taken place in the last decade. Combining the archaeological and historical research allows us to gain a good impression of the history. Old Wolfheze has its origins as far back as the 9th century and the tufa stone church was built in the 11th century. The village was well known because of its situation on the important roads and its status as a result of its parish church. But it gradually lost its significance owing to competition from Heelsum and Doorwerth.
Spanish
For a long time it was believed that Wolfheze was plundered to extinction by the Spaniards in 1585. But the village was already largely abandoned by that time and the church was probably no longer in use. What remained of the stones of the church was sold in 1624 to a trader. All that remained of Wolfheze was the forester’s house. But even that was lost – it burned down in 1826. The name of Wolfheze stuck to the place and it gave its name to a new railway station a number of kilometres away. A new village of Wolfheze then arose around this station.
