TY - CHAP
T1 - The great transformation of the dune ridge landscape
T2 - How water management, peat extraction and sand excavation led to agricultural innovation in the dune region between Haarlem and Leiden, 1400-1650
AU - van Dam, Petra J.E.M.
N1 - Please note this article is published with Brepols Publishers as a Gold Open Access article under a Creative Commons CC 4.0: BY-NC license. The article and the host publication is also freely available on the website of Brepols Publishers: https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/abs/10.1484/M.CORN-EB.5.129378 under this same license.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - In the transition from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern period, the dune ridge landscape between Haarlem and Leiden was thoroughly rebuilt and reorganized. In order to drain the peaty beach plains and sandy dune ridges, an extensive drainage system of large and small waterways was constructed. Thanks to the improved drainage system, commercial peat cutting took place on the beach plain from the mid-fifteenth century, but the supply was exhausted in the course of the sixteenth century. The activities were led by distinguished entrepreneurs from the cities of Haarlem and Leiden. Sand was excavated, often commercially, from at least the late fifteenth century. The dune ridges were excavated and levelled, and the flattened land was given a new purpose. Although sand excavation and the founding of country estates were often combined in a single project, sand excavation could also be a considerable industry in and of itself. The sand was used for improving the soils, as ballast for ships, and possibly also for elevating low-lying, marshy grounds in towns. The reclamation and extraction of peat in the beach plains and sand on the dune ridges sparked a centuries-long, irreversible cycle of constant adjustments to the drainage system, followed by better drainage, further digging, yet more flooding, and further adjustments to the drainage system, finally resulting in the transition to pumping out surface water on a permanent basis (with wind mills). After the peat and sand had been extracted, the ground was levelled, and the soil was worked and enriched with local nutrient-rich layers of soil and manure, known as toemaken. The soil conversion must have played a major role in the transformation of the dune ridge area for new modes of production, in particular for the flax industry from c. 1500 and the modernization of horticulture after 1600.
AB - In the transition from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern period, the dune ridge landscape between Haarlem and Leiden was thoroughly rebuilt and reorganized. In order to drain the peaty beach plains and sandy dune ridges, an extensive drainage system of large and small waterways was constructed. Thanks to the improved drainage system, commercial peat cutting took place on the beach plain from the mid-fifteenth century, but the supply was exhausted in the course of the sixteenth century. The activities were led by distinguished entrepreneurs from the cities of Haarlem and Leiden. Sand was excavated, often commercially, from at least the late fifteenth century. The dune ridges were excavated and levelled, and the flattened land was given a new purpose. Although sand excavation and the founding of country estates were often combined in a single project, sand excavation could also be a considerable industry in and of itself. The sand was used for improving the soils, as ballast for ships, and possibly also for elevating low-lying, marshy grounds in towns. The reclamation and extraction of peat in the beach plains and sand on the dune ridges sparked a centuries-long, irreversible cycle of constant adjustments to the drainage system, followed by better drainage, further digging, yet more flooding, and further adjustments to the drainage system, finally resulting in the transition to pumping out surface water on a permanent basis (with wind mills). After the peat and sand had been extracted, the ground was levelled, and the soil was worked and enriched with local nutrient-rich layers of soil and manure, known as toemaken. The soil conversion must have played a major role in the transformation of the dune ridge area for new modes of production, in particular for the flax industry from c. 1500 and the modernization of horticulture after 1600.
KW - water management
KW - sand excavation
KW - peat extraction
KW - environmental history
KW - Medieval history
KW - early modern history
KW - recycling
KW - agricultural history
KW - country house
KW - flax
KW - horticulture
UR - https://www.brepols.net/products/IS-9782503594460-1
U2 - 10.1484/M.CORN-EB.5.129378
DO - 10.1484/M.CORN-EB.5.129378
M3 - Chapter
SN - 9782503594460
T3 - CORN
SP - 177
EP - 200
BT - Communities, environment and regulation in the premodern world
A2 - Weeda, C.
A2 - Stein, R.
A2 - Sicking, L.
PB - Brepols
CY - Turnhout
ER -