History
In the middle of beautiful historic Delfshaven, the Old or Pilgrim Fathers Church is located on the Aelbrechtskolk. Originally, Delfshaven was the seaport of Delft. Delft desperately needed its own shipping connection to remain independent of toll charges by Rotterdam and Schiedam. This canal, the Delfshavense Schie, was dug after approval by Count Albrecht van Beieren in 1389 and runs from Overschie (then: Ouderschie) in a southerly direction to the Nieuwe Maas (then: Merwede). The port of Delft was created at the place where the Delfshavense Schie intersects the Schielandse Hoge Zeedijk: 'Delftshaven'. The first houses were built along the Kolk (now Aelbrechtskolk) and the Haven (now Voorhaven). Two buildings quickly determined the face of Delfshaven: the Town Hall and the Church. At the end of the 19th century (1886), Delfshaven was annexed by the expanding city of Rotterdam, making it a city district of Rotterdam.
In August 1416, the city of Delft received permission to build a church in Delfshaven. The first church building was completed in April 1417 and was given the name Sint Anthonis Capel with a then Roman Catholic use. Over the centuries, this house of prayer grew through a number of renovations into the current Old or Pilgrim Fathers Church. The church remained in Roman Catholic hands for more than a century and a half, until the iconoclasm also reached the Sint Anthonis Capel in 1572. The reformational ideas of Luther and Calvin gained more and more ground. After the departure of the Spanish troops from Delfshaven, the Delft government openly sided with the Reformed doctrine and the old Sint Anthonis Capel was assigned to the reformists. To this day, the church is the home base of the Hervormde Gemeente Delfshaven on Sundays.