oa De watervoorziening op de zandgronden

Wells as water facilities were standard elements of the Dutch settlement landscape only since the Roman period. At the same time (drinking) water facilities became largely detached from the local topography. The position of a well within a settlement became determined by that of its associated house, and its position relative to the house became more or less fixed. This reflects the functional and social subdivision of the farmhouse into two distinct sections: ‘front’ and ‘back’. Communal water facilities (socially important as well) seem to have been associated with nucleated settlement, and they always existed alongside private facilities. Communal (public) wells first appeared in towns around the 13th or 14th century, but in rural areas probably not until the 16th century. In different periods there is evidence for the expression of social and functional differentiation.