Tijdschrift voor Historische Geografie - Volume 6, Issue 2, 2021

The Zijpe and the Zuiderzee

Dutch geologists and archaeologists disagree about the time the Flevo-lakes in the Wet Heart of the Netherlands were connected with the western part of the Waddenzee. Geologists hold the strong view that this connection originated in the centuries bc. Archaeological research revealed, however, that the pre-urban development of the city of Amsterdam did not start until the last quarter of the 12th century ad. This urban development has been considered as an indication that the shipping route between the mouth of the river Amstel and the Waddenzee had improved shortly before. Therefore, archaeologists are convinced that the improvement of this shipping route was forced by the All Saint’s flood of 1170. To the west of Schagen, the sea is considered to have broken up the coastal barrier which led to the development of the Zuiderzee. Because of the etymological relation between the names Flevo and Vlie, the Flevo-lakes must have been already connected with the Waddenzee in the Roman period. Near Medemblik, however, the water did not become brackish before the 8th century ad and more to the south not earlier than the 9th century. Therefore, drainage must have been the main function of the connection between the Flevo-lakes and the Waddenzee for centuries. From historical documents it is known that somewhere around Stavoren a large amount of land was lost to the sea in 1170. Together with the swift development of Amsterdam it is likely that the Zuiderzee came into being after 1170. A breakthrough of the coastal barrier to the west of Schagen at that time, however, is unlikely. In 1170 there was some damage in the northern part of the province of Holland caused by a storm surge, but the loss of land was limited due to the building of several dikes.

A ‘development plan’ from 1359

In 1359, two members of the Liège Cathedral Chapter visited the village of Lith, in what is now the province of Noord-Brabant, one of their many possessions, in order to take care of several issues affecting the village. Thus, the common pastures of the village were divided among 264 named persons and institutions. Depending on their social status, the residents were given a larger or smaller part of the land. In addition, an order was given to build a defensive moat around Lith in view of the threat of war at that time. Furthermore, the seigneurs of the cathedral chapter gave permission to build houses on part of the commons. The dimensions of the building plots they staked out are still recognizable in the southern part of the village. They also ordered the construction of a market field, where the weekly market and the annual market could take place. Also noteworthy is the stipulation that all roads within the village had to be paved. Finally, they laid down the imposed measures in two documents that are comparable to a modern development plan: a set of municipal regulations managing the physical living environment. It is remarkable to note that parts of a paper plan dating from 1359 are still traceable today.

Remains of hedges and woodbanks around Heumen and Wijchen (Gelderland)

For the purpose of more accurate and well-founded restoration and maintenance of historical hedges and hedge banks in The Netherlands more research is needed on their regional typology and maintenance systems. The paper describes a regional inventory in the area south of Nijmegen in which more than three hundred relics of hedges and hedge banks were closely examined and contextualized. The project showed that the area traditionally did not show any traces of hedge laying. However, there were abundant relics of various traditional hedge wreathing systems. This new knowledge has important implications for future hedge management in the area and contradicts recent tendencies to copy English hedge laying techniques in Dutch regions where this technique has never been applied in the past.

Marker Wadden in historical perspective: new land in an old tradition

Marker Wadden is a large scale nature development project, consisting of the building of several small islands in the Markermeer. As the newest land reclamation project in The Netherlands, it attracts much (inter)national attention.

This article aims to situate the project within the long tradition of nature conservation and watermanagement in The Netherlands. Innovative, however, is the attention given to the spatial quality and the ‘Building-with-Nature’­principle, using natural processes to solve technical, ecological and social problems.

The first ecological results seem promising. But there is also criticism, for example on the spatial planning process and the effect on possible archaeological remains in the area.

Time will tell whether the Marker Wadden will be regarded as an important and innovative project in the history of nature conservation in The Netherlands.