Fort, vesting en -onderdelen, Werk aan het Spoel Culemborg

English translation

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Description

Cluster 503.

NEW HOLLAND WATER LINE

Introduction

FORT INSTALLATION AND EARTHWORKS, CONTAINING (REMAINS OF) GUN EMPLACEMENT SITES, WET MOAT WITH OUTER BANKS, WITH INUNDATION CANAL, WITH (DIVERSION AND MAINTENANCE) ROADS AND CROSSING AND WITH ZONE DEMARCATED BY BOUNDARY POSTS as the basis of the Defensive Work at the Spoel. Forts were usually constructed on the basis of earthwork bodies brought in beforehand that served as a foundation and were intended to prevent subsidence in (a wet and soft) soil. In the construction of the forts, apart from this earthwork body that was usually already tactically 'pre-shaped' and which could itself already play a defensive role, a specific layout was also realised that was intended to increase defensive strength, ensure the safety of the garrison and facilitate internal and external transport and traffic. In this way, among other things, earth coverings were created for various structures to make them less vulnerable to impacts from enemy fire, earth ramparts that covered buildings and open areas and determined the contours, and paved paths and parade grounds. Forts were usually surrounded by one or more wet or dry moats to prevent any approach to the rampart or the fort area until the last moment. The forts were usually only accessible via one or more bridges or via a narrow isthmus. Where for water management or other reasons a permanent direct connection between the inner and outer areas existed, this was designed in such a way that it could not or only with great difficulty be crossed. Use of so-called chevaux-de-frise, monks (fortifications) and/or gates was usual in this regard. Water works and/or inundation works could form part of the total layout. Along the outside of the moats there was often a road or path, which could be laid out either in the form of a covered way (glacis/enveloppe), or also level with or even above ground level. These roads or paths could have various functions, ranging from public road to maintenance path, and also from military covered way to exclusive access road to the fort. Beyond the wet moat there is moreover often a zone (from time immemorial and still partially) marked as such with boundary or limit posts over which the Ministry of War had authority. The layout of the Work at the Spoel does not differ in principle from this picture. Distinguishing elements are and (were) the Inundation Canal located on the east and south sides of the fort, and the no longer existing inundation and sluice lock. The Inundation Canal extends for a length of approximately 2150 metres – and with a few gentle bends – until the present-day Rietveldseweg. The northern part of the Inundation Canal, near the former lock, is partially narrowed. The remains of a lock in the Prijsseweg/Prijssedijk are separately protected. At the work there are still some tetrahedra from the late interwar period.

Description

FORT INSTALLATION AND EARTHWORKS, CONTAINING (REMAINS OF) GUN EMPLACEMENT SITES, WET MOAT WITH OUTER BANKS, WITH INUNDATION CANAL, WITH (DIVERSION AND MAINTENANCE) ROADS AND CROSSING AND WITH ZONE DEMARCATED BY BOUNDARY POSTS as the basis and components of the Defensive Work at the Spoel. The Fort Work at the Spoel now consists essentially of an elongated, asymmetrical earthwork with different levels, the outer slope of which has rounded forms. The earthworks, which are surrounded by an escarpment or enveloppe (main rampart), largely enclose the fort area, while both still-existing bombproof buildings are also covered by earthworks. The fort was constructed at the time transversely across the Lekdijk, allowing the road over the dike to be sealed off, a relatively rare construction. The enclosed area and the dike body still in use as a through road (the crossing) are still largely in the condition shown on a plan from 1875. The fort area divided in two by the road is accessible on both sides via a slightly curved path system along which the buildings and other functions and components can be reached. During the restoration of the work, multiple parts of the layout, including the earthworks, were restored and accentuated. The Work at the Spoel lies to the east of Fort Everdingen and, apart from being a kind of outwork of that fort, is also a specific additional defensive work because of the railway/railway bridge between Utrecht and 's-Hertogenbosch brought into use in 1870. The moat of the Work at the Spoel is still virtually completely present and forms a generous frame around the fort installation. The moat has been connected from time immemorial on the northeast side to the Lek and via a lock chamber in the east also to an inundation canal laid out or adapted in the nineteenth century. Along this the adjacent polders could be flooded. The connection/transition from the fort moat to the canal was formed by a lock chamber to the east of the work, which was provided on the south side with a head with pointed gates and on the north side with so-called radial gates, which could also be opened against high water in the river. The lock and the gates were, however, filled in and demolished in the seventies of the twentieth century. Remains or traces of them may, however, still be present. The Work at the Spoel was also intended for the defence of the sluice lock/inundation lock and the inundation canal. The northernmost part of the canal – the inlet to the northeast of the Work at the Spoel, also part of the fort moat (approximately 200 metres) and the northern part of the canal within the river dike (approximately 80 metres) form part of the installation. The inundation canal runs in a straight line from the river bank to beyond the lock in Prijsseweg on/Prijssedijk in the Polder Culemborg/Goilberdingsepolder. From there it runs from time immemorial with two gentle bends until the (present-day) Rietveldseweg. The length from the river bank was approximately 2500 metres; the uninterrupted section from the fort moat southwards measures approximately 2150 metres, at a width of approximately 15 metres – except for the northernmost part, which measures only approximately 5.50 metres. Of the outer banks of the fort moat – with the diversion and maintenance roads – characteristic sections still remain and the road is fully accessible. The originally marked zone demarcated by boundary or limit posts over which the Ministry of War had authority, the Military Crown Land, is indicated on the map belonging to this document; the Inundation Canal forms part of this. Remains or traces of various (built) components and (earth)works may still be present in the soil, although part of the installation and the ramparts were excavated during restoration and partial reconstruction and redevelopment.

Valuation

The FORT INSTALLATION AND EARTHWORKS, CONTAINING (REMAINS OF) GUN EMPLACEMENT SITES, WET MOAT WITH OUTER BANKS, WITH INUNDATION CANAL, WITH (DIVERSION AND MAINTENANCE) ROADS AND CROSSING AND WITH ZONE DEMARCATED BY BOUNDARY POSTS of the Defensive Work at the Spoel is of general interest because of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the New Holland Water Line as designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and realised in initial construction from 1815 by him, Jan Blanken and major-engineer Willem Offerhaus and subsequently strengthened and improved by others for more than 125 years.

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

The component is an example of an earthen installation with roads and path system, earth covering for various functions, moat, inundation canal, diversion road, crossing and military zone demarcated by means of boundary posts, with components in particular from the early nineteenth century and from around 1875-1880.

* Archaeological values because of the traces expected to be present in the soil of sluice works, trenches, earthworks and the like.

* Ensemble value and situational values because of its location within the New Holland Water Line system in general and in particular in the virtually intact relationship with the field of fire.

* The component is relatively rare and representative because it is an example of a fort with an earthwork body constructed transversely across an access/dike.

* The component is reasonably well preserved because the shape of the earthwork body and the dike, roads, water and path structure still largely reflect the condition of the construction period, which is also due to the restoration and partial reconstruction from shortly after 2010.