Fort, vesting en -onderdelen, Fort Uitermeer Weesp (Amsterdam 27)

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

Cluster 4. Ruin of tower.

NEW HOLLANDSE WATERLINIE

Introduction

RUIN OF THE TOWER as the most striking built component of Fort Uitermeer. Fort Uitermeer has a number of building periods from the 17th through to the 20th century, from which several structures remain. The tower on the north side of Fort Uitermeer dates from 1845. It served the function of a reduit, a place where the troops could retreat for defence if the rest of the fort could no longer be held. The tower fort Uitermeer was part of a building campaign of tower forts along the river accesses under the direction of engineer officer Merkes van Gendt. The towers of the tower forts were built 'bombproof'. Depending on the period of construction - and thus the expected impact force of projectiles - 'bombproof buildings' were spoken of when they were considered capable of withstanding a predefined number of impacts from heavy calibre. The towers typically have an approximately circular ground plan with a diameter of several tens of metres. They were originally surrounded by a dry or wet moat and were incorporated into an encircling earthwork with embankment(s). They are two or three storeys high and consist of heavy - metres thick - brickwork. The starting point was that the round form was well capable of withstanding impacts from cannon fire, while the defensive force could be approximately equivalent in all directions. Through the placement of far-reaching artillery on top of the towers - where the lookout was also located - it was thought that a favourable defensive position could be achieved. For close defence, (numerous) rifle and artillery openings were provided.

The tower fort at Uitermeer is one of the first tower forts built in the Netherlands. A separate wet moat was dug around it, which was in direct connection with the Vecht. A drawbridge spanned the moat. Because the tower at Uitermeer also proved to be a vulnerable object due to the improvement of artillery and later the invention of the explosive shell, the building was stripped of its breastwork and artillery emplacements in 1876. The moat was filled in, the drawbridge dismantled and the entrance bricked up. A new guardhouse was built against the tower. Both the tower and the guardhouse were earthed up on the east side (the front side).

All earthworks, including those on top of the buildings, were removed or levelled in the years 1954-1955, when the fort was taken into use by defence as a munitions storage site. At that time the moat was partly filled in and the tower was further demolished, causing it to fall into a ruinous state. The ruin has since been consolidated. The guardhouse has disappeared, but the foundations remain underground. The current entrance to the fort is located at the site of the entrance to the guardhouse, but this has been widened and raised. The spaces in the tower are mostly open due to the largely absent interior walls, but where the interior walls remain, they serve as sleeping and wintering places for bats. During the restoration and consolidation of the fort around 2003-2006, the separate moat was restored and the direct connection with the Vecht was also restored.

Description

RUIN OF THE TOWER of Fort Uitermeer, located on the north side of the fort island. It is a circular brick building from 1845, provided with thick walls and gun openings of various sizes on each of the storey levels. Around the former open inner courtyard are the remains of spaces for the troops, originally two storeys high, but now without intermediate floors and interior walls. The top storey has partly concrete and partly the original vaulted brick ceilings. The fort was intended as a bombproof building and therefore both the walls and brick ceilings are well over a metre thick. Two of the spaces retain their interior walls. There are also some original details, such as drainpipes which were to catch rainwater. On the southwest side of the tower fort is an entrance, blocked by a metal gate (not original). This entrance is located at the site of a guardhouse dating from 1846, the foundations of which became visible when the fort moat was excavated. The original entrance, where the drawbridge also led, is immediately to the right of this. During the restoration in the years 2003-2006, the filled-in fort moat was excavated, causing the tower to stand in water again.

Appraisal

The RUIN OF THE TOWER is of general importance because of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie as designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and initially laid out from 1815 by him, Jan Blanken and major-engineer Willem Offerhaus and subsequently strengthened and improved by others over approximately 125 years.

* Architectural-historical values in particular as an expression of military-strategic architecture, which is based on: a. the system of inundation and access defence (19th century), b. the race with increasingly strengthening offensive means (19th century). This concerns a tower of a tower fort at a river access, built under the direction of engineer officer Merkes van Gendt and dating from 1845.

* Ensemble and situational values as part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie. Also due to the functional and physical relationship with the other components of the complex.

* The component is rare because only ten bombproof towers remain in the Netherlands, of which this is the only one preserved as a ruin.

* The component is moderately well preserved because it, being partly demolished and later blown up, has been consolidated as a ruin, but also for this reason is clearly recognisable as a bombproof tower.