BEEMSTER AND ZEEVANG

Driving along the ring canal of the Beemster between Oosthuizen and Purmerend, the landscape difference between the Beemster and the Zeevang is striking.
The reclamation of the Waterland peat area (beginning in the 10th century) led to land subsidence. During the 12th century, the Zuiderzee encroached everywhere into the vulnerable peat area of Waterland. Peat rivers became flood channels and broadened into true sea arms. This created a landscape of inland seas and (pen) islands. The Beemster was such an inland sea, and the Zeevang was such an island, trapped by the sea.

In the 13th century, the rising seawater and sinking land forced the diking of the Zeevang.
The Zeevang polder is a flat, open, and water-rich peat meadow landscape, located between the towns of Purmerend, Oosthuizen, and Edam. This peat area has a characteristic division into long strips, which are perpendicular to the reclamation axes. The parcels are separated by narrow ditches. To prevent further subsidence of the peat through drainage, a high groundwater level is maintained.
Rich natural areas are the kogs, the lands outside the dike along the former Zuiderzee coast that served as hay fields, summer pastures, and wave breakers against the incoming tide.

In 1607, a group of Amsterdam merchants and city officials decided to drain the Beemster, which was still a large lake at the time. A high and sturdy dike of 42 kilometers long was built around the lake, with the ring canal constructed around that. The emptying of the lake then began, with no less than 43 windmills. By 1612, the lake had dried up, and the layout of the polder could begin.
Roads were laid out, ditches dug, and farms built. All of this was done according to an orderly and strict geometric pattern. The layout is very regular, with large block-shaped plots. The Beemster owes its fame to this rational division and layout; since 1999, the entire Beemster reclamation has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

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