oa Verpachting van duingronden op Texel van 1855 tot 1885

In 1855, the province of North Holland started exploiting the coastal dunes of the island of Texel. The dunes were divided into 19 large plots, each of which was leased for several years. This map from around 1840 served as an official document till 1886 and was regularly updated. It shows the plots and lists of tenants and rents for each lease period. Also interventions such as the construction of ditches and dikes were drawn. The map uniquely shows the Mient (‘commons’), a low and moist dune landscape which was botanically very rich, but which was almost completely drained and forested around 1900. The present dune area of Texel still bears the traces of the lease and the interventions from the 19th century.