This is a small hunebed with only one lintel and two uprights. The large boulder standing close by was probably also part of the tomb. It stands in a farmyard and is owned by the farmer which makes this the only hunebed still in private hands. Furthermore, it is very difficult to find among all the little roads in the small village of Westenesch.
Location of D44
Visit of Professor van Giffen in 1918
“The hunebed is totally ruined and the original condition cannot be recognised, because at some time a pig sty was built over part of it”, wrote Van Giffen in 1925. He might here have perhaps confused cause and effect, but nevertheless this hunebed is the most pathetic example of any prehistoric burial monument in Drenthe. It was then owned by Mr Houwing of Westenesch and now by his descendants. According to Van Giffen the destruction must have taken place after 1848, because in that year a certain Mr Janssen found the tomb in a more complete state.
(Source: Atlas of “De Hunebedden in Nederland”, dr.A.E.van Giffen, 1925)
For more information about this and other hunebeds in Drenthe see
www.hunebedden.nl and www.hunebeddeninfo.nl
Text Hans Meijer
Translation Alun Harvey
Photography Davado
