Recognisability of the landscape's reclamation history

The reclamation history of the landscapes of the Flevoland polders, the Wieringen and the peat pastures of the provinces of Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland can be clearly recognised from the field shapes and the landscape elements.

Current situation

The original reclamation and field patterns of the polders reclaimed from Zuiderzee lakes are still very recognisable: Lake Wiering, the northeast polder and the Flevoland polders are the youngest polders in the Netherlands. The reclamation and field patterns of parts of the peat pasture areas are also still recognisable, even though this landscape is much older. The areas on sandy terrain in the east, centre and south of the country have changed the most since 1850.

Technical note

• very good: land parcellation has hardly changed
• good: land parcellation has changed somewhat (larger or smaller) but the pattern is still visible (e.g. strip plots)
• recognisable in main lines: only the main infrastructure of the landscape (roads, dikes and larger watercourses) survives
• poor: even the main structure has vanished

The HISTLAND database of historical and landscape information has been used to assess how much the reclamation and settlement patterns have changed. This entailed comparing recent topographical maps with historical maps that date from the time of reclamation. For areas that had been reclaimed prior to 1850, the oldest topographical maps (dating from 1850) have been used.

References

• Database HISTLAND. Alterra. Wageningen.

Relevant information outside of the Environmental Data Compendium

• Landscape types
• Small landscape elements
• Recognisability of valuable landscapes