Canal Embankment

The canal dike is located along the Tienhovensch Canal between the Vecht near Breukelen and the Hoorneboegsche Heide below Hilversum. The total length of the canal is 11 kilometers. The canal runs right through the Utrecht-Holland peat meadow area and borders the Loosdrechtse Plassen.

The history of the Tienhovensch Canal is embedded in the history of the area in which it is located. Both canal and landscape are a direct result of man's large-scale intervention in his natural environment. This part of the Utrecht-Holland peatland was a large swamp and hardly accessible until well into the Middle Ages: a high moor area between the meandering Vecht and the high sandy soils of the Gooi and the Utrechtse Heuvelrug. Through the raised bog run some peat rivers that drain onto the Vecht. This natural situation came to an end in 1122.

In 1122, the old Rijnloop near Wijk bij Duurstede was dammed by bishop's decree. The Oude Rijn and the Vecht branching from there received a lower water level and from then on could be used for the drainage of the adjacent (peat) areas. In addition, the damming of the Oude Rijn also removed the threat of flooding. The main course of the Rhine has since continued its way via the Lek. The extractions in the Utrecht-Holland peatland started.

The extractions east of the Vecht are under the central control of the Oosthoek monastery near De Bilt. The area was mined in several phases, with the mining ribbons and the adjacent villages moving further and further northeastwards as a result of the right of free extension. This right means that from the mining base the plot can be further and further mined into the wilderness up to a natural boundary, another mining block or an administrative-political boundary. The first mining axis is located at the Hoofddijk and runs directly next to and parallel to the Vecht. The next mining phase starts at the Gageldijk. This is how it continues, with the current villages and hamlets Breukelerveen, Tienhoven, Oud-Maarsseveen, Westbroek, Achttienhoven, Achterwetering and Maartensdijk representing the final mining phase. All these mining phases take place between the 12th and 16th centuries. Due to differences in pace and soil conditions, the ribbons (as was still the case with the Hoofddijk and the Gageldijk) no longer always fit well together. This is due to the current long jump in the village ribbons, such as between Oud-Maarsseveen and Westbroek and between Achttienhoven and Achterwetering.

The mining east of the Vecht found its political-administrative boundary in the border with Holland. In 1280 the Weersloot was designated as the border between the county of Holland and the diocese of Utrecht. This border was extended in 1352 as Hollandse Rading to the high sandy soils of the Gooi. Because of this northern boundary of the mining block, a kind of pie slice remained for the adjacent villages to mine. Because Tienhoven drew its plot boundaries straight ahead, Breukeleveen and Maarsseveen are in trouble with tapered plots in the tip of the extraction. At Breukelerveen these lots were, by decision in 1552, turned a quarter turn. This benefits the practical use, but could not prevent the duck cage of Breukeleveen from being built later on this spot. These cages were often built on less usable land.

With the exploitation of the Tienhovensche Blok, the history of the Tienhovensch Canal also began. At that time it was no more than a wide plot ditch as a separation between the Tienhovensche and the Breukeleveensche mining block. After the reclamation, these lands were put into use as arable land, mainly for arable farming. However, the soils quickly collapsed as a result of the dewatering. Clumping mainly occurs in peatlands, where the water drains into the soil due to the drainage and the soil volume decreases, resulting in subsidence. From then on, the land can only be used as pasture or hayland.

However, the possibility of a more lucrative land use soon arose. The growth of Dutch cities from the 15th century onwards has an important economic engine in the form of peat. Peat is obtained by drying peat. The peatlands in Utrecht and Holland, located close to the cities, were therefore quickly reclaimed. At first, dyeing took place above the groundwater level, but due to the low location of the peatlands, dredging soon had to be carried out.

This dredging in the lowland peatlands produces characteristic landscapes. Landscapes that are still clearly visible in the Utrecht-Dutch peat area. After dredging, cap holes and laying fields are created. The cap holes are wide waterways in which the peat has been dredged. The laying fields on either side of the cap holes are the strips of soil on which the peat was laid to dry. This beautiful landscape can still be seen in the Kievitsbuurt north of the Tienhovensch Canal and in the Tienhovensche Plassen and the Polder Westbroek south of the canal. The laying fields are kept as narrow as possible for economic reasons. It sometimes happens that with large storms there are gaps in the laying fields or that large pieces disappear completely. The landscape of pet holes and laying fields then turns into one large pool of water. The Loosdrechtse and Vinkeveensche Plassen are the result of this and now form recreational eldorados for water sports. In the 19th century, some of these lakes were ground dry: the reclaimed land. A reclaimed land is a deep polder with an often rational subdivision. The Polder Bethune (up to 3.30m-NAP) south of the Tienhovensch Kanaal, but also many polders around Rotterdam and in the Ronde Venen are examples of this.

For the regions (provinces), the plasting posed a great danger. Land (read: load) was lost, while the large puddles posed an increasing danger to the adjacent land in storms. Drying the puddles could help, but sometimes they worked more preventively. For example, the fear of flooding in the city of Utrecht led the States of Utrecht to ban further peat extraction at Westbroek in 1790. Amsterdam did not have this ban, so the Dutch part north of the Tienhovensch Kanaal became completely boring.

With this brief elaboration about the landscape in the Utrecht-Holland peat area, the origin and development of the Tienhovensch Canal has been placed in a broader perspective. With the start of peat extraction, many of the boundary ditches are used as peat canals for the removal of peat to the Vecht and thus to the cities of Utrecht and Amsterdam. As a predecessor of the Tienhovensch Canal, the Tienhovensche Vaart first arose in the 17th century. This canal is the result of the widening of the plot ditch between the Tienhovensche and Breukeleveensche mining blocks. The connection with the Vecht took place by branching the canal on an old Vechtmeander. On the east side, the canal continues to the Weersloot near the border with Holland.

The Tienhovensche Vaart has been used as a peat canal for almost two centuries. It is one of the most important peat canals in the peat area due to its central location and the adjacent land route towards Nieuw-Loosdrecht. This location aroused the interest of investors in the 19th century who still dreamed of a direct connection between Vecht and Eem (see Praamgracht). In 1824 Mr. Van de Wall made a proposal to this effect. The exploitation of het Gooi also played a role in this. After granting the approval, the Tienhovensche Vaart was widened into a canal between 1836 and 1869. The intention is to extend the canal to Eemnes in order to reach the Eem via the Eemnesservaart. However, this intended extension was a fiasco. The canal builders come as far as the Hoorneboeg, but the high sandy soils of het Gooi make it such a costly project that continuing is not profitable. In the meantime, no one is waiting for a canal between Vecht and Eem. Hilversum already has its own water connection with the Vecht (Gooische Vaart), peat is on its way back as fuel and a reclamation of the heathlands of the Gooi does not fit in with the use of these wild lands by the Erfgooiers. In 1882, the province of Utrecht decided not to spend any more money on it. Fortunately for het Gooi, too. Now we owe the beautiful Gooise nature reserves to it. On the edge of one of these reserves, the Hoorneboegsche Heide, is now the dead-end Tienhovensche Kanaal. They just managed to pass the Noordweg between Loosdrecht and Hollandse Rading, but after that it stopped.

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