THE ROTTEN MEENTHE

Between the Linde and the Kuinder (east of Scherpenzeel) lies the nature reserve De Rottige Meenthe. Where does the name 'Rottige Meenthe' come from? 'Meenthe' refers to common pastures or to land that has not yet been cultivated. 'Rotten' is bad land or land with little yield.
In the course of the 18th century, parts of the area were peated. During peat extraction in peat bogs, the peat was dredged below the groundwater level: the slagpeat. The wet peat was removed from under the water surface with dredging brackets. The dredged peat was laid out to dry on recessed strips of land (legakkers or zetwallen, locally also called ribs) and cut into peats. After the entire peat layer had been dredged away, elongated puddles (peat holes or drawholes) were left behind, which were otherwise worthless. To meet the growing demand for fuel, larger and larger areas of soil were excavated. The peat holes became wider and wider, the legakkers narrower and narrower. As a result, it could happen that during storms the legakkers were swept away by the water, creating peat ponds.

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