Sandwijck

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Description

HISTORICAL PARK LAYOUT in landscape style, of which the first layout dates from the end of the eighteenth century and was reorganized in 1833-34 by H. van Lunteren. The changes that Van Lunteren made are still largely present today. The most important modification concerned the course of the pond, which had a U-shape with a straight branch extending southwards. Van Lunteren connected the two northern watercourses, creating an island in the process. The southern, straight branch was excavated into a meandering pond, which ran into a field ditch approximately one hundred metres to the north of the folly via a sharp bend. The island can be accessed via a cast-iron bridge on the north-west side, now severely neglected. The pond divides the country estate grounds into two roughly equal halves. In the western part are located the country house Sluishoef, the coach house (not selected) and a bowl-shaped pond. To the south of Sluishoef is a park wood, bounded largely to the east by the meandering pond. The wood is traversed by the extension of the driveway. The walking paths that run through this wood do not date from the time of Van Lunteren. An exception is the path along the meandering pond, which also runs along the cast-iron bridge mentioned above to the island. The path leads to the folly in the southernmost part of the park. The folly looks out over a coulisse landscape, where according to old maps there was originally a circular walk around it. The remaining edge planting along the field ditches indicates where the path once ran. In a number of ditches there are small islands planted with old trees. This terrain, currently used for agricultural purposes, falls outside the protection due to the absence of layout structures.

After the folly, the path bends in a northerly direction and runs partly along the eastern bank of the meandering pond. The park wood transitions here into a gently undulating meadow area in the eastern part of the park, which extends to the country house Sandwijck. The southern boundary of this meadow area is determined by a horseshoe-shaped ditch. This ditch is presumably an addition from the late nineteenth century as it is absent from the topographic map of 1887. The walking path continues along the southern bank of the ditch and then crosses the meadow area mentioned above. The path eventually runs through a small wood of conifers, which lies directly in the south-eastern sight line of the house Sandwijck. This wood dates from 1913 and was laid out by landscape architect Otto Schulz when he made a number of changes around the house. Behind this is an excavated water feature with a small bowl pond from the same period. The path emerges at a T-junction. The path to the left leads past the pergola and the country house and eventually emerges onto the driveway. The path to the right leads to the park wood, which forms the eastern boundary of the grounds. This wood is traversed by a straight avenue and leads in a north-easterly direction towards the farm Oost-Indië and in a south-westerly direction towards the agricultural area to the south of the country estate.

General characteristic of the park is the coherence of the terrain sections in relation to the parcel structure specified below and the Steenweg, now Utrechtseweg, laid out at the end of the thirteenth century. The open meadow area creates a secluded impression through its irregular boundary. The diversity of (specimen) tree species (swamp cypress, weeping beech, zelkova, (red) beech and (American) oak is considerable and is important in the composition of the various sight lines. Although the south-eastern sight line from the house is disrupted by the planting of the aforementioned conifer wood, the long south-western sight axis from the house, the sight lines from the folly onto the coulisse landscape and the various sight lines to the country house have remained largely intact at many points in the park. These elements give at least an impression of Van Lunteren's original design. With the exception of the cedar on the south-western sight axis of the house, the later plantings are not intrusive.

Determining factors in the layout of the park are undoubtedly the medieval parcel structure and the Utrechtseweg that runs diagonally across it. The country house is positioned parallel to this road while the originally eighteenth-century landscape layout of the park has respected the parcel structure. The result is that the main sight axes do not run straight—that is, in a south or north-easterly direction—from or to the house, but necessarily in a south or north-westerly direction (towards the Van Boetzelaerpark). It is plausible that Van Lunteren, in his reorganization, attempted nevertheless to achieve a south-eastern sight axis that ran across the parcels. This axis is today disrupted by the aforementioned conifer wood and the park wood along the south-eastern boundary.

Valuation

The landscape-style park of the country estate Sandwijck is of general importance due to its significant garden architectural history value as an example of a well-preserved landscape park from the first half of the nineteenth century grafted onto the medieval cope reclamation. Furthermore, it is of importance due to its ensemble value in relation to the other park components.