Drowned Villages and Places in Zeeland and West-Brabant
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Aandijke (also Aendike) | Drowned village in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. On the former island of Zaamslag. |
| Assenburg | Small village on the former island Borssele. It drowned during the storm floods of 1530 and 1532. |
| Avenkerke (also Brielle) | One of the 4 drowned villages on the island Wulpen. This island was in the Middle Ages off the coast of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. North of Wulpen was the island Koezand. Northwest was the island Schoneveld. Around 1570 Wulpen island went under. The last remains vanished by the end of the 17th century. |
| Baarzande (also Bardesant, Burdasanda or Bersant) |
Northeast of the former island Cadzand. Drowned about 1500. |
| Bakendorp (also Badickedorp) | Village south of Baarland. The storm flood of November 1530 destroyed Bakendorp. After re-diking it gradually vanished through dike collapses in the Westerschelde. A memory of Bakendorp is the gravestone of pastor Jan Lenaerts who died on 28 April 1518; that stone is now in the church of Hoedekenskerke. Until the 19th century there was by Bakendorp a ferry to Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. The remains of Bakendorp could until 1957 be found in the landscape. Afterwards a radical redistribution of multiple allotments of land completed the work of the water and the last remains of Bakendorp vanished. |
| Beoostenblije | Settlement near Axel. During the conquest of Axel by Prince Maurits in 1586 its inhabitants had to escape. They never came back. |
| Borrendamme | South of Zierikzee. Appears in 1297 for the first time in records. The storm floods of 1530 and 1532 nearly destroyed the village. In 1570 and in 1610 remains of the village were used to stop breaches in the southern dike of Schouwen-Duiveland. The foundations of the church remained visible up to 1822. The church lay 800 meters west of the mole of Zierikzee. |
| Boterzande | Drowned coastal village in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen north of Biervliet. Occurs in 990 in the files of Saint Peter's Abbey in Ghent. In 992 a farm with associated ground in "Boltreshanda" was given to the abbey. There must have lain there outside the dike considerable mud flat, which is listed in records as "outdike". Boterzande disappeared on 8 October 1375 in the waves of what now is called the Westerschelde. |
| Capelle | Capelle near Zierikzee shares with Schuring in the Hoekse Waard the doubtful honour of being the most recently drowned village of the delta. Until 1 February 1953 Capelle was between Zierikzee and Nieuwerkerk. It was a sturdy hamlet, a street with a row of houses on both sides and a crossing point. The North Sea flood of 1953 swept Capelle away and it was not rebuilt. In the area around is only farmland. |
| Coxyde (also Beniardskerke, Bingaerstkerke, Bengerskerke) |
Village near Oostburg. It belonged to St. Baaf's Abbey at Ghent. It suffered so much from floods. In 1583 Prince Maurits flooded the area around Sluis to block the march of the Spanish commander Parma. The dikes by Coxyde were broken. The current scoured gullies out and sucked Coxyde away into the deep. |
| De Piet (also Mude, Muiden) |
The name means swimming and sunbathing, for De Piet is now above all known as a recreation area at the south corner of the Veerse Meer. Neat cultivation, neat creek and beach. The landscape there ever offers another bright panorama. But 700 years ago here on the western part of the former island of Wolphaartsdijk was the village of De Piet. The outline of the village was shown by the castle of Muiden. The village went under in 1377. The ruin of the castle stood long as a landmark in the Veerse Gat. |
| Elmare | Drowned village in the frontier region of the present-day Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and Belgium. Drowned in 1375. The village lay rather alone in an extensive wild peat bog region south of IJzendijke. Graaf Diederik of the Elzas gave in 1134 and 1135 20 bunder (an area unit) of peat ground to St. Peter's Abbey in Ghent. The 20 bunder, 20 hectare, ground lay by a small stream called the Helmare. There was potential fuel, for there peat could be dug out. The monks built there a chapel to the honour of the Virgin Mary, a church dedicated to St. Nicholas, and also a mill. There was a monastery with monks who were linked with the mother abbey in Ghent. They controlled the village. The inhabitants were serfs, but rather property of the monks. Under their leading they brought the surrounding wild ground into cultivation. Elmare became through a way linked with the area around, likewise the drowned Oostmanskerke. Elmare is above all known through a famous fairy story: the village was called repeatedly in the Dutch version of the old animal epic "Reynard the Fox". |
| Emersweert | No information |
| Everswaard (also Eversweerde) |
Drowned village and parish north of Bath. The parish belonged to the bishopric of Utrecht. The church's patron saint was St. John the Evangelist. It vanished during the storm flood of 1530. |
| Ganuenta | Drowned Roman settlement in the Oosterschelde in front of the coast of Colijnsplaat. |
| Gaternesse (also Gathernesse, Gaternisse) |
Village north of IJzendijke. It existed in 1150. It had an extensive ground area. One of its pastors was Wouter Everard, a dynamic entrepreneur, and likely vain. In 1357 he had a polder endiked and named it after himself. The Everardpolder was not allotted long life. Already the same year the dike broke and ran the fresh land reclamation under water. The village Gaternesse went under during storm floods in the 15th century. In 1660 inhabitants of IJzendijke saw for the last time the foundations of Gaternesse. |
| Hannekenswerve | Drowned village between Sluis and Aardenburg in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. A considerable village and there lived tidy religious people. In 1169 bishop Walter of Doornik approved that the pastor of Aardenburg and the curate of Hannekenswerve made mutual agreements over their service roster. Until then the pastor of Aardenburg did the weddings, baptisms and burials of the village. Now the curate, with special powers, could do these himself. Quid pro quo? The man had to give a third of his income to the head church in Aardenburg. Excavations in 1964 unearthed the remains of the church, painted crypts and tombstones. In 1421 the region about Hannekenswerve went under water. In 1477 followed a flood. During the Eighty Years' War, in 1583, the inhabitants of Sluis broke the dikes through. A text of 1666 says: "the place where formerly Hannekenswerve was, is flat". The village had vanished from the map through nature and war violence. Approximately on the place of Hannekenswerve now lies Draaibrug. |
| Roeselare | A small town near Aardenburg. It was described in 1404 as "lost to the endless days of the sea". |
| Hinkelenoord | Drowned village northwest of Woensdrecht. It drowned during the storm flood of 1552 |
| Hugevlet | A town northwest of Biervliet in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. Lodewijk van Male, count of Vlaanderen, gave Hugevlet town rights in the 13th century. The settlement existed in 1174. Hugevlet had its own weekly and yearly market, and its own harbour on the Westerschelde. In spite of privileges it never got the chance to become a proper town. In 1375/1376 the Westerschelde did a first attack on Hugevlet. It failed. In 1404 it was successful. Hugevlet vanished for all time in the waves. |
| Kadzand | Island and settlement in the mouth of the Westerschelde. It was one of the many islands which in the Middle Ages were in the mouth of the Westerschelde. It flooded in 1375. Kadzand was later attached to Zeeuws-Vlaanderen by diking. The settlement vanished. |
| Kalfsteert | Hamlet by Perkpolder. In the 16th century a ferry went from Kalfsteert to Waarde. The Nieuhoespolder where Kalfsteert lay, vanished in 1591 in the Westerschelde. |
| Koezand | Island in the mouth of the Westerschelde. In the spring of 1344 the dike-builders arrived on the mudflats of Koezand. The endiking happened by instigation of 4 private investors. Amongst them was an official of the town of Brugge. The height of the dike was 10 feet, somewhat more than 3 meter. The width at top was 7 foot, somewhat more than two meter. The charter describing the endiking of Koezand is, as far as is known, the first written piece which described the measurements of sea dikes. Also the organisation of the polder governing board was regulated in details. In the first years there were 28 tenants on Koezand. They did not prosper. Floods did all during the first years and much land was lost. Afterwards followed a hard fight to save the island. In 1276 the tenants could no more produce the costs of the dike. The rent value was halved. A sea arm called the Hedensee separated the islands Koezand and Wulpen from each other. After the island flooded it was attached to the island of Wulpen by diking. It vanished in the waves during the All Saints' Flood (Allerheiligenvloed) of 1570. |
| Mare | Drowned village northwest of Rilland. It lay approximately on the site of the present-day Stationsbuurt. The village dates from the 13th century. Its name is first known from about 1280. The village drowned on Saturday 5 November 1530. |
| Michielsdorp | No information |
| Moggershil | Drowned settlement on a small island at the west of Tholen. It was lost in 1570. |
| Monster | Vanished village on the former island Borssele. The name Monster came from "Monasterium", which is Latin for "monastery". It drowned during the storm floods of 1530 and 1532. The area has been re-empoldered since, and the modern village of Borssele is approximately on its site. (Distinguish from the village called Monster in Zuidholland province.) |
| Nieuwkapelle | Drowned village at the mouth of the Hinkelinge at the south of Kruiningen. The village lay in the Middenhinkelingepolder, which was endiked in 1327. The village was lost by floods in the 17th century. |
| Nieuwerkerk | Drowned village in the west of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. It was between Oostburg and Groede at the Nieuwerkerk creek. It existed in 1197. It was damaged by the Allerheiligenvloed in 1570. It was flooded deliberately during the Eighty Years' War, and that washed Nieuwerkerk from the Earth's surface. |
| Nieuwerkerke | Drowned village by Arnemuiden on Walcheren. |
| Nummer Zes | Hamlet by a drainage sluice in the neighbourhood of Hoofdplaat. Nummer Zes vanished in 1808 in the waves of the Westerschelde. Its name means "Number Six". |
| Onze Lief Vrouw aan Zee | Former hamlet by Renesse. It was lost because of the advancing sea and being buried by dunes. |
| Oostkerke | Drowned village on the former island of Borssele. It belonged to the bishopric of Utrecht. The village went under in 1530. |
| Oostmanskerke (also Ozemanskerke) | Drowned village southeast of Schoondijke in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. Its church is mentioned in 1150. A sacred robe belonging to the church is mentioned in 1391. |
| Orisant | Island in the Oosterschelde. Empoldered in 1602, drowned in 1639. The village of Orisant was at the south corner of the island on the left bank of a dammed-off creek called the Vijsse. |
| Oud-Arnemuiden (2 uses) | The village Arnemuiden occurs comes for the first in written sources in 1223. According to a record of 1288, Floris V wanted to give town rights to the village, but that never happened. Because the current of the Arne always moved more to the west, the village became threatened, and about 1440 was swallowed by the water. For about 20 years there was a second Arnemuiden. That vanished in the water as well. In 1462 arose the third and definitive Arnemuiden. |
| Oudeman (also Waterland) |
Drowned village in the Oudemanspolder by the former municipality of IJzendijke. Vanished about 1500. |
| Oud-Bath | Some kilometers east of the present-day Bath. It drowned in 1552. |
| Oud-Breskens | In 1510 the Groot-Breskenspolder was endiked. There between 1515 and 1585 a settlement centre grew about a church dedicated to St. Barbara. In 1585 the first Breskens drowned in a flood caused by the inhabitants of the nearby Groede. In 1610 the present-day Breskens developed. |
| Oud-Domburg | Settlement somewhat west of the present-day Domburg. Also called Romeins Domburg. Buried under moving sand dunes and partly in the sea. |
| Oud-Graauw | In 1170 the village Graauw in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen was property of the abbey of Ter Duinen in Vlaanderen. Vanished during floods in the 16th century. A new Graauw was built after the new Melopolder was made in 1682. |
| Oud-Kortgene | This town was found in archives first in 1247. The storm floods of 1530 and 1532 were too much for Oud-Kortgene. In 1684 the region was re-diked and the present-day Kortgene arose. |
| Oud-Othene | Small village east of Terneuzen. Mentioned first in 1160. The village went under in 1586. |
| Oud-Rilland | The abbey of Nijvel owned settlements in Rilland in 980. Until the 13th century Rilland was an island. By Rilland at the bank of the Westerschelde was a toll collection point. Rilland went under in 1530. In the 18th century the present-day Rilland was founded. |
| Oud-Schoondijke | In the west of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen This village was mentioned first in 1246, as Sconendica. Between 1585 and 1587 this old Schoondijke through war operations came under water. The village would have been where the old churchyard is by the present-day Schoondijke, which was founded in 1652 with a strict geometric groundplan. |
| Oud-Stavenisse | The parish Stavenisse was named in 1223. The church was dedicated to St. Martin. In 1304 Stavenisse was flooded. After re-diking the village vanished in 1509 again in the waves. This lasted until 1599 when a new inpoldering took place, and the present-day Stavenisse, entirely planned, was founded, at the west corner of Tholen. This new Stavenisse is a Voorstraat village. Also in similar villages in Zeeland and West-Brabant the Voorstraat runs from the church to the harbour. |
| Oud-Westkapelle | Drowned trading settlement which was submerged due to damage to the banks. In 1696 M. Smallegange wrote that the old Westkapelle had been in the sea for "several centuries" and that men "catch fish there daily". Historians say that the old Westkapelle flooded in 1368 and 1377. Its church had to be demolished in 1458 because the sea approached it foundations. By Westkapelle men found in 1514 an altar dedicated both to the Germanic god Magusanus and to the Roman god Hercules. |
| Remboudsdorpe | One of the 4 drowned villages of the quite densely populated island of Wulpen. Lost in 1345. |
| Risinge | Hamlet on the former island of Borssele. Drowned during the storm floods of 1530 and 1532. |
| Rodee | The hamlet lay some hundreds of meters west of the harbour mole of Zierikzee. The last dwellings of Rodee were demolished in 1642. Shortly afterwards the water of the Oosterschelde closed above this small village. |
| Runckendorp | No information |
| Ruschevlet (also Rusgefleta, Ruschflite) |
Vanished and drowned village southwest of Schoondijke. Around 1150 the small river Rusgefleta flowed in western Zeeuws-Vlaanderen in the region between Schoondijk and Oostburg. In those years the abbey of St. Peter at Ghent bought land along the Rusgefleta. It went around agricultural land and around fen land. The abbey organised there the church's governing board in a (proosdij?). |
| Schoneveld (Sconeveld) |
In the mouth of the Westerschelde in the Middle Ages were some islands. One of them was Schoneveld. When Gwijde of Dampierre was count of Vlaanderen, 1278–1305, there must have been a small village and even a country seat there. The storm flood of 1375 broke the dikes of Schoneveld. It flooded, and is not mentioned in source documents afterwards. The sandbank which is now on the place of the island, is still called the Schoneveldbank. |
| St. Catharina (also St. Cathelijne) |
Drowned village by the present-day Oostburg, on the south side of the water that we now know as the Grote Gat. St. Peter's Abbey at Ghent owned a taxation right there. During the storm flood of 1375/1376 the village vanished under water. After repairs the village and the church were rebuilt in about 1400. The village vanished in 1583. The region where the village is, is now the Cathalijnepolder. In 1962 during building activities remains of the church and of houses were found in the ground. |
| St. Christoffelskapelle | Small settlement in the Yevenpolder in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, in the neighbourhood of Gaternesse. The Yevenpolder drowned at the end of the 16th century; then St. Christoffelskapelle also vanished. |
| St. Janscapelle | The village of St. Janscapelle was in about 1300 west of Sas van Gent. Excavations in 1979 showed that a prosperous community had been there. It vanished through flood in 1488. |
| St. Katherijnekerke | Drowned village and parish on the former island of Borssele. The church stood there before 1275. The storm floods of 1530 and 1532 meant the loss of St. Katherijnekerke. |
| St. Kruispolder | Drowned parish village by Aardenburg. It went under the water in 1375/1376. |
| St. Lambert-Wulpen | Village on the island of Wulpen, which was in front of the coast of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and had 4 villages. It had its own hospital. In 1292 it was listed as "Sancte Marie in Wlpis." Wulpen was constantly threatened by storms and floods. In 1516 St. Lambert-Wulpen was the last village of the island that was devastated by the sea. |
| St. Nicolaas in Varne (Vaerne or Langaardenburg) |
A little place in the frontier region of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and Belgium. In 1252 it even had its own "ship bank". Its inhabitants must have thought that they lived in the front porch of Hell. Their village lay southwest of IJzendijke in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. It was a morass-ridden desolate wild region, the end of the land, though many saw it as the beginning of the underworld. Some say that "Varne" came from "Avernus", a lake in Italy where by tradition the underworld began. Other sources hold simply that "varne" came from "varnte", an old word for "weeds". Anyway, the village with the beautiful name drowned in 1377 and left nothing behind except a name in official documents. |
| Slepeldamme | Hamlet on former harbour mole of Aardenburg. There was a sluice. Also there was a toll office for the shipping from and to Aardenburg. Via Slepeldamme much cattle and grain was transported from Holland and Zeeland. In 1280 Slepeldamme promoted its toll office to Damme. The small village went through floods in 1583 and 1604 and was lost for good. |
| Stuivezand | Drowned village and parish south of Baarland. Stuivezand was endiked between 1370 and 1375 by instruction of Count Willem V of Holland. Because the gullies of the Westerschelde (which was then still called the Honte), more and more pressed against the Beveland wall, Stuivezand had many dike breaks. In 1525 the Dierik, a current gully between Stuivezand and the mainland of Zuid-Beveland, was dammed off. The inhabitants of Stuivezand could now go on foot to the land of Borssele and Baarland. They did, and most did not come back, certainly not after the floods of 1532, 1552 and 1570. Floods always made the island smaller. The last little piece of Stuivezand definitively vanished under water in the beginning of the 17th century. |
| Ter Hamer | Village between Biervliet and IJzendijke. The parish of Ter Hamer was mentioned for the first time in 1194. Much ground in the area round the village was property of Count Boudewijn IX of Vlaanderen. He loved warmer regions, took part in the 4th Crusade, and became Emperor of Constantinople. On his return journey he was seized by the Bulgarians. His brother Hendrik succeeded him. He used the inhabitants of Ter Hamer as property insurance. Walter van Monnickenwerve and the brothers Jacob and Boudewijn van IJzendijke farmed by Ter Hamer. They had ground in fief there. However, with it came obligations. The inhabitants of Ter Hamer had to watch properties of lord Hendrik. In case of necessity they were obliged to march as an armed village militia. The village did not get its own jurisdiction in the form of a "ship-bank". The simple village Ter Hamer went under during the storm flood of 1375/1376. |
| Tewijk (also Tevewijc, Thevic, Tewic, Tevicambacht) | Drowned village on the former island of Borssele, north of the village of Monster, which is the present Borssele. Tewijk became a parish in 1275. Its church was dedicated to Johannes de Doper. Vestiges of Tewijk are found on the border of Borsselepolder and the Nieuw-Westkraaijertpolder. |
| Triniteit | Maria of Artois, the widow of count Jan of Namen, founded on 19 September 1336 the village of Triniteit south of Terneuzen. They promised to Jan van Diest, the bishop of Utrecht, that three quarters of the place's tax income would go to the pastor; one quarter was intended for the installation and maintenance of a hospital. The bishop approved. He wanted the church inaugurated, however. The noble Maria then wanted to supply a contribution to building the church. Her son Willem had also a demand: he wanted for himself and his followers by law of inheritance to be able to appoint pastors. The bishop did this without difficulty. On 21 January 1340 a substitute of the bishop presented to the church in Maria of Namen its first pastor: Johannes Boudweijnsz. The new parish got still a particular attraction: whoever visited the church, in devotion ran around the churchyard, and presented some alms to the church, could count on redemption of sins: an indulgence of 40 days. During the Eighty Years' War Triniteit was a battlefield zone. The village vanished in 1584 and 1585 by an army flooding it. The church stood there then still. The Catholics then lost all their authority there. Lieven Coenen became circa 1580 the first Protestant priest of Triniteit |
| Valkenisse | Southeast of Waarde. The church of Valkenisse was in 1233 dedicated and belonged to the chapter of Oudmunster at Utrecht. Valkenisse vanished in 1682 in the Westerschelde. |
| Vinninge | Drowned village south of Biezelinge in the Westerschelde, on the former island Baarland. Its church was dedicated to the Holy Mary. Vinkenisse was known in Rome, for in 1216 it was mentioned in a papal document. Vinninge apparently went under in the flood of 1530. |
| Vulendike (also Volendike) | no information |
| Waterdunen | One of the most mysterious small towns in Zeeland's history. It must have been on an island in the mouth of the Westerschelde, between the islands of Wulpen and Koezand, in front of the coast of the present-day Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. Old tax records show clearly that Waterdunen was of rather big scope. Waterdunen paid more tax than IJzendijke and Biervliet. According to the annals Waterdunen in 1357 was swallowed by the sea. Afterwards, after re-diking, a new parish was founded on the island. This second Waterdunen vanished at the end of the 15th century in the waves of the North Sea. |
| Weldamme | Small village by Zierikzee, after 1600 sunk in the Oosterschelde. |
| Westende | One of the 4 drowned villages on the island Wulpen, vanished about 1570. |
| Westkerke (1) (also Raaskerke) |
Drowned village on the former island of Borssele. Westkerke went under during the storm flood of 1530. It is in the Westerschelde southwest of Borssele. |
| Westkerke (2) | Drowned village west of Oud-Sabbinge on the island Wolphaartsdijk that existed then. This Westkerke drowned on 16 November 1377. The region where the village lay, was re-endiked in 1665; the area was later named as the Westerlandpolder. In 1975 remains of Westkerke were found west of the farm of Hof Westkerke. The finds include coffins, tombstones, gravestones, and wallwork of the former church. |
| Wiksdorp | Vanished village north of Braasdorp in De Poel. |
| Wolfertsdorp | Drowned village on the former island Borssele. The first mention of Wolfertsdorp dates from 1353. It was southeast of Monster, the present Borssele. Shortly after the storm flood of 1530 Wolfertsdorp was mentioned as "entirely swept away". |
Read more about this topic: List Of Settlements Lost To Floods In The Netherlands
Famous quotes containing the words drowned, villages and/or places:
“I will venture to affirm, that the three seasons wherein our corn has miscarried did no more contribute to our present misery, than one spoonful of water thrown upon a rat already drowned would contribute to his death; and that the present plentiful harvest, although it should be followed by a dozen ensuing, would no more restore us, than it would the rat aforesaid to put him near the fire, which might indeed warm his fur-coat, but never bring him back to life.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
“It’s like a jumble of huts in a jungle somewhere. I don’t understand how you can live there. It’s really, completely dead. Walk along the street, there’s nothing moving. I’ve lived in small Spanish fishing villages which were literally sunny all day long everyday of the week, but they weren’t as boring as Los Angeles.”
—Truman Capote (1924–1984)
“When our hatred is too fierce, it places us beneath those we hate.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)