Peel marshes

The Peel Fens, or simply The Peel here, were a large peat bog area in North Brabant and North Limburg. Beneath the surface of these sandy areas lie layers of impermeable clay that cause water to stagnate. Additionally, there is the Peel Fracture which leads to poor drainage. At the end of the last Ice Age, the sand was also blown up and the cover sands formed dams for water drainage. In the area, sphagnum mosses gradually grew into raised bogs with a peat thickness of up to 5 meters or more. The name Peel is derived from the Roman word locus paludosus which means marshland. The local population used the name Peelen for the alternation of heath and peat areas. Parts of the Peel Fens can still be found in the National Park De Groote Peel, the Deurnese Peel, and Mariapeel near Helenaveen. Parts of the peat area were already being excavated in the 11th century. First, the edges were addressed by the local residents. These are called farmers' bogs. It was also systematically addressed on a larger scale by monastic communities such as that of the monastery of Padua, at the Gemert-Bakel and Boekel border. (1742). Later, industrial extraction followed that lasted until the beginning of the 20th century. The peat was transported along canals such as the Zuid-Willemsvaart, the Noordervaart, the Helenavaart, and the Canal of Deurne. With the arrival of coal, peat extraction ceased.

Dromos