Gemeenlandshuis van Rijnland

The current building was built to house the Hoogheemraadschap that dates from the 12th century when the Oude Rijn river silted shut at Katwijk.

In the centuries afterwards, a group of officials called heemraden oversaw the dikes along the IJ, the Zyl, the Does, and the dams at Zwammerdam and Spaarndam.

This was the subject of a painting by Caesar van Everdingen that hangs in the Gemeenlandshuis Rijnland, the meeting hall purchased in 1578 on the Breestraat.

The facade was renovated twenty years after purchase in 1598 to keep up with the new Leiden town hall.

In the early 19th century, it was painted brown, which caused damage to the brick and resulted in restoration activities in 1882.

Gemeenlandshuis of the Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland on the Breestraat in Leiden
Count William II of Holland Granting Privileges in 1255 to the local Dike-wardens of Spaarndam by Caesar van Everdingen , 1654, originally commissioned for the Gemeenlandshuis Zwanenburg in Halfweg , and today in the collection of the Gemeenlandshuis Rijnland in Leiden.
Heraldic shields of the Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland members in 1691, the year that this church window was donated by the Water Board to the church in Lisse , currently located in the St. Bavochurch .