This fishing village, east of 't Zand, arose shortly after 1596 on the site where the drainage ditch of the Zijpe and Hazepolder (Grote Sloot) flowed into the sea until 1845. In 1742 it was the largest settlement of Zijpe, but then it became more important.
The original wooden Groote or Oudesluis (Noorderweg 18) from 1597 was replaced in stone in 1631; the current lock chamber dates from 1711-'12 (restored 1839) and contains a memorial stone from 1765. The lockkeeper's lodge (Noorderweg 18; 1914) has a sign with the sluice rates set in 1850. The Herv. church (at Noorderweg 14), a hall church with a wooden gable tower, was established in 1861 and replaced a predecessor destroyed by storm from 1650. B.F. Bergmeijer built the organ (1900). The form. Mennonite. church (Sportlaan 3a) is a sober hall church from 1906.
