Steenoven de Plasserwaard

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

Disused BRICK FACTORY ("De Plasserwaard") of the "clinker chamber ring kiln" or "flame kiln" type with a preserved section of NARROW-GAUGE RAILWAY, built in 1930. The kiln (56.92 X 30.89m) was designed by A. van de Koppel. The factory was established by J.A. Leccius de Ridder in 1897 and within a few years grew into the largest brick factory in Wageningen, but this period of prosperity was short-lived and during the economic crisis of the twenties the business was closed. In 1930 his son, Mr. D.L. Leccius de Ridder, made a new attempt by building a new factory to breathe new life into the enterprise. Alternating with periods of difficulty, it continued to exist laboriously until the early 1980s. In 1960 the switch was made to gas firing in order to achieve greater production. The crawl doors were also widened to allow a fork-lift truck to pass through.

Description

The brick factory has a rectangular floor plan, is constructed in brick and is covered by two adjoining hipped roofs which are laid with smoke-fired Mulden tiles. However, the row of tiles adjoining the master gutter is executed in a red variant. The ridge and rafters are laid with smoke-fired triangular hip tiles. On the ridge boards of each roof two ventilation caps have been fitted and along the entire length of each roof slope small roof windows. On both the riverside and the dike side an original flat-roofed dormer with three coupled windows has been placed. The roof overhang is supported by braced posts on footings, which are placed at the foot of the sloping buttresses between the crawl doors. The building, which is surrounded by pre-fabricated concrete slabs, has on its long facades 13 segmental arch-shaped oven chambers, excavated for storage purposes, with widened crawl doors with new doors. The end facades consist of masonry of sand-lime brick laid at an angle (stretcher bond); the corners are executed with laid brickwork basketweave pattern. Partly incorporated into the roof slope of the northern end facade, there is the chimney built up with clinkers at original height (stretcher bond). Between the kiln master's house and the overlying short side of the building, part of the narrow-gauge railway which leads to the river is found in the paving. The firebox storey is still in original condition with the cast-iron fire holes into which coal was poured and the coal storage space; the kiln channel in the heavy stone substructure is located beneath the gutter between both saddle roofs. Kiln channel and chimney have likewise been preserved.

Valuation

Former BRICK FACTORY ("De Plasserwaard") built in 1930, designed by A. van de Koppel, is of cultural, architectural and historical and urban planning significance:

- as a typologically sound and virtually unaltered example of a "clinker chamber kiln" or "flame kiln", built on a refuge mound;

- because of its distinctive and visually defining location in the Gelderland river region, with the narrow-gauge railway route partially preserved. Both the tall, still complete chimney, as a landmark, and the distinctive roof are of particular significance for the appearance of the surrounding landscape;

- as a particular expression of the socio-economic and historical development of Dutch brick manufacturing.