Fort Sabina

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

Introduction.

Fort Sabina was constructed in 1810-1811 in the northwestern corner of the Sabina-Henrica polder for the protection of shipping on the Volkerak and Hellegat. It was initially named De Ruyter and, as a consequence of the Fortification Act of 1874, served as a defence against enemy fleet units on the Volkerak and the covering of a barrier with spar torpedoes. In this capacity it formed part of the Volkerak and Hollandsch Diep Line. Between 1879-1883 it was substantially modified and then acquired its present form with Artisanal-Traditional elements.

Description.

The work is situated within a moat and has a pentagonal form with on three corners a single casemate and on the fourth, southern corner a double casemate. Access to the whole is via a causeway and a concrete guardhouse. This guardhouse has a rusticated plastered facade of five bays with blocked and fluted pilasters and arched window and door openings fitted with iron shutters. It is covered with a cornice. A barrel-vaulted passage runs through the building. The rear facade is plastered. In the middle of the ground stands the former defensible tower of 1810-1811. This now forms part, with its severely weathered facade of IJsselsteen masonry, of the earthed-over barracks building, which contained a kitchen, storage rooms and an infirmary. Internally, the former 'tour modèle' has a rectangular room executed in fine masonry with segment-shaped walled recesses and a barrel vault running around the perimeter, which in the middle rests on a square column. The barracks building has a facade of engineered brick in eight bays with segment-shaped closed and louvred window and door openings. The openings are placed in groups of three beneath a relieving arch, which corresponds to the internal barrel vault. One of the keystones bears the date 1880. The wall openings give access to rooms executed in fine masonry. These have partly iron and wooden beams. In the bay adjoining the tower we find barrel vaults on iron profiles, the remaining rooms have segmental barrel vaults. The walls are whitewashed here with a black plinth. Behind the barracks is a double-walled powder and projectile magazine from 1881 with storage rooms and four barrel vaults. For transport, use was made of narrow-gauge track still present. There is also here a carriage house from 1866 with two barrel vaults. The four casemates are accessible via underground passages and have walls constructed of gravel concrete with an admixture of brick split. The passages were prefabricated from cement at the Nederlandsche Cement Steenfabriek in Delft. The double casemate has a silted-up moat and a storage room from 1884. Against the fortification wall are gun emplacements on the southwest and west sides with associated powder and projectile magazines constructed in concrete. The traces of the gun emplacements for the seven heavy 24-centimetre cannons of the Y type are still recognisable.

Valuation.

Fort Sabina-Henrica is of general importance. It has cultural-historical value as an expression of the developments of national defence and military science in the nineteenth century and the place it occupied as a link in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie. It has architectural-historical value because of the complicated building history with a multitude of components including tower, barracks building, powder magazine, etc. It is an exemplar of the use of traditional brickwork and, for that period, modern concrete construction. It has ensemble value because of the relationship between fort, magazine and the surrounding open polder landscape. It has been preserved in relatively good condition.