Waarnemingspost, Fort Honswijk Schalkwijk (Houten 26)

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 61. Tower (I).

NEW HOLLAND WATERLINE Introduction

Round TOWER (I) executed in heavy brickwork, which was the nucleus and redoubt of Fort Honswijk and which formed part of the defence of the (river) access of the Lek and the northern Lek shore, as well as of ancillary water works. Towers on forts were built up to the 1860s of the 19th century, beginning in the Napoleonic Period; in the Netherlands, however, only from around 1840 onwards, whereby the insights of military engineer J.G.W. Merkes van Gendt were guiding. Dutch towers on forts usually have an approximately circular ground plan with a diameter of several tens of metres and were surrounded by a wet moat. They are two, three or more storeys high and consist of heavy - metres thick - brickwork. The starting point was that the round form was well resistant to cannon fire impacts, while the defensive strength could be roughly equivalent in all directions. Through the placement of far-reaching guns on top of the towers - where the lookout was also situated - one thought to be in a favourable defensive position. For near(er) defence, (numerous) gun ports for cannon and rifle fire served. Several towers on forts were provided with an earth covering, by which means they were also regarded as 'bombproof'. Being bombproof was a relative concept, coupled to the impact force of the fire at the time of construction. With the advent of guns with rifled bore, however, it was over for the towers: they proved to be fairly vulnerable, were relatively easy targets and thus lost their defensive significance within a few years. As a result, several towers were stripped of their highest storey(s) and provided with earth protective ramparts. What remained was their function as accommodation for troops and materiel. Well-known tower forts in the New Holland Waterline are those at Weesp (a freestanding tower), Fort Asperen (attached counterscarp gallery with earth cladding), Fort Honswijk and Fort Everdingen (both with freestanding, earth-clad counterscarp gallery). Most towers form part of fort complexes surrounded with earth works and (wet) moats, such as also Fort Honswijk.

Description

Central in the south-eastern bastion of the complex Fort Honswijk, built on a round ground plan, brick TOWER (I) - used as a lodging and storage building - which forms the nucleus of the oldest construction. The design is by Eng. J. Muschart. The tower was constructed in the years 1844-1848, after earth works and a foundation had first been realised. The brickwork of the circular facade is executed asymmetrically: the walls on the east side are thicker (approximately 3 m) than those on the west side (approximately 1 m). There were originally four storeys, including the basement; during modernisation around 1879 the upper storey was removed, so that the tower now has three storeys, including the basement. The facade, which was crenellated until approximately 1879, has since ended with a roll moulding. On top of the structure there is nowadays a metres-thick, more or less flat, earth covering. The tower has a diameter of around 45 m and is currently approximately 12.50 m high. It is the largest of its kind in the Netherlands. Around the tower lay a ring-shaped, wet moat, from which the facade rose directly; during the later alteration this moat was filled in and replaced between tower and the then-built counterscarp gallery by an approximately 4 m wide, semi-circular running, open passage. During the construction of the counterscarp gallery, several heavy cast-iron arches were placed between the tower and the gallery as spacers for reinforcement. The facade of the tower is provided all around with a large number of facade openings of different type and format (predominantly arched). The entrance, with a recessed arch within an arch segment or arched relieving arch and with double wooden doors, in which a wicket door, is located on the west side.

A semi-circular arched passage leads to a half-circular curved interior courtyard situated in the western half of the tower (the interior gallery, which is unique of its kind in the Netherlands), onto which several rooms open. In the facades of the courtyard, semi-circular arched doors with and without semi-circular arched fanlights and semi-circular arched windows. The courtyard is spanned on two levels by a number of solid, mortared air arches. In this the semi-circular running courtyard thus distinguishes itself from the semi-circular passage between tower and counterscarp gallery; also the interior gallery lies on the least vulnerable west side of the tower and the counterscarp gallery to the east for protection of the tower. A central, round space in the tower spans the full storey height and is closed off against falling grenades by a continuous cladding of iron I-profiles. This round core is surrounded by a broad corridor, which leads to the remaining rooms, such as casemates adjoining sleeping rooms, living rooms and privies. In the walls of the corridor are entrances to these rooms, which are provided with semi-circular arched fanlights, with V-shaped glazing bars and with windows with double casements and similar fanlights. An iron stair on the storey, which leads to the roof, is a later addition. A water pump with stone coping dates from the first construction period (1844-1848). The walls in the tower fort are whitewashed and the structure is provided internally with a clinker paving.

Valuation

The TOWER (I) of Fort Honswijk is of general importance because of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the New Holland Waterline as this was designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and in its initial construction from 1815 by him, Jan Blanken and major-engineer Willem Offerhaus was realised and subsequently by others during approximately 125 years was strengthened and improved.

* Architectural-historical values, in particular as an expression of military-strategic building science, which is based on: a. the system of inundation and access defence (19th century), b. the arms race with the strengthening offensive means (19th century).

This concerns here a component from the period 1841-1864, namely an example of a tower on a fort at a river access, built to the design of eng. J. Muschart and to the insights of military engineer J.G.W. Merkes van Gendt.

* Ensemble value and situational values as part of the New Holland Waterline. Also because of the functional and physical coherence with the other components of the complex and in particular with the counterscarp gallery.

* The component is relatively rare because it is the largest tower forming part of a fort in the Netherlands and because furthermore no examples with interior gallery have been built and it is representative of this type of tower because it is a good example of an exemplar of which the upper storey was removed for military-tactical reasons and which is provided with a protective counterscarp gallery.

* The component is well preserved because numerous characteristic components in exterior and interior have been retained and have remained recognisable in form and function.