Carr peat areas
The characteristic elements of the carr peat areas are ribbon settlements, numerous ditches and waterways, bunds, and windmills. The characteristic pattern of strip plots has hardly changed, but since 1980 the length of bunds has dwindled.
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Characteristics
In the last ten thousand years, a huge peat bog developed between the coastal dunes and the higher areas of the Netherlands. Around 1000 AD this entire carr peat area was reclaimed in a relatively short time. The first ribbon settlements from this time lie along small rivers and on sandy ridges in the peat. The settlers worked back from their villages, reclaiming the bog behind by digging wide ditches perpendicular to the rivers and sandy ridges. As the ditches were spaced fairly closely, the plots of land were long and narrow: strip plots. Windmills were used to pump out the water, and on the drained land livestock farming was possible. A bund ran along the end of the plots and every now and again there were bunds running down from this terminal bund to the front of the plots. These bunds kept out water from the adjacent area.
Trends
Although an appreciable area of the carr peat areas has been swallowed up by urban sprawl, the landscape type is one of the least spoiled cultural landscapes in the Netherlands. Despite land consolidation schemes, the configuration of plots is largely the same as it was a thousand years ago. The proportion of strip plots did not change much in the 20th century either (see figure).
In the first half of the 20th century there was a steady increase in the length of bunds, but since 1980 there has been a downturn.
