Enter the main shopping street ‘Kleiweg’ and take the second side street on the right, left side of the canal (Blauwstraat) and walk on until the street’s name changes into Turfmarkt. 

The name of this street Turfmarkt, (Peatmarket), reminds us of the flourishing medieval trade in peat in Gouda. Peat was extracted from the mires just outside town and was used as fuel, both to heat the houses and for the many beer breweries and potteries in town. Ships were to come into town, and the height of the still existing ‘Trappenbrug’ (literally: Stairs Bridge) was made so that the low boats could just sail under it. Around 1580 the city’s peat storage moved to ‘de Raam’ and ‘Turfsingel’. Alongside the ‘Turfmarkt’ small companies and new houses were built.