Fort of Nieuwendamme

The construction of the Nieuwendam Dam and the Havendijk were part of a large-scale economic and water management plan by Philips van den Elzas, Count of Flanders from 1168, to neutralize the tidal channels (which also allowed for the founding of Nieuwpoort). The so-called Novum Dam is a dam built during the reclamation period of the Testerep Channel, around 1167. It was meant to deflect the mouth of the Testerep Channel into the Yser, so that it would join slightly further south with the mouth of the Reigersvliet. The dam is part of the dike construction Havendijk-Groenendijk along the Yser, which was intended to constrain this river in its bed and separate land that was reclaimed by a large dike from the river. Traces of the mouth of the Testerep Channel and the constructions used to redirect it are still clearly visible in the relief and on aerial photographs. The client and financier of all these works was almost certainly Philips van den Elzas (1168-1191), who was effectively count from 1168 but had also governed the county before that, during the long journeys of his father Diederik van den Elzas (1128-1168) to Palestine.

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