Friesland Terp Villages

Originally the characteristic form of settlement in Friesland was the terp village, in which the houses, with their typical pyramidal roofs, were tightly packed together on a mound (terp), usually man-made, which gave them protection against flooding in the event of a storm tide or a breach in the dikes. Few of these terp villages are to be seen today: they have mostly given place to scattered settlements which have the advantage that the farmhouses are nearer their fields.