Waarnemingspost, Langendijk 60 b

English translation

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Description

Cluster 67.

NEW HOLLAND WATER LINE

Introduction

TOWER as part of a small fort reinforced with earthworks built around the middle of the 19th century for the closure and defence of inundation works and of the river access of the Linge. Towers on forts were built until the 1860s, beginning in the Napoleonic period; in the Netherlands - except for a few exceptions from around 1810 - however only from around 1840 onwards. Towers usually have an approximately circular ground plan with a diameter of several tens of metres and they are or were surrounded by a dry or a wet moat. They are two, three or four storeys high and consist of heavy - metres thick - masonry. The starting point was that the round form was well resistant to cannon fire impacts, while the defensive force could be more or less equally effective in all directions. By positioning far-reaching guns on top of the towers - where the lookout was also stationed - one thought to be in a favourable defensive position. For close defence, (numerous) gun embracements for cannon and rifle fire served this purpose. With the arrival of rifled artillery and especially of explosive shells, however, the tower forts came to an end: they proved to be vulnerable after all, were relatively easy targets and thus lost their defensive capability within a few years. As a result of this, various towers were stripped of their highest storey(s) and provided with earth protection ramparts. What remained was their function as accommodation for troops and material. Well-known towers (as or on forts) in the New Holland Water Line are those at Weesp, Fort Honswijk and the Fort at Asperen. Most towers from the 1860s onwards have been part of fort complexes surrounded by earthworks and (wet) moats, such as that of the Fort at Asperen. During restoration and conversion, elements of the tower were adapted, in particular on the earth-covered roof.

Description

TOWER, slightly west of centre on the earthwork of the Fort at Asperen. A brick tower built on a circular ground plan which forms the core of the defensive work. The tower was constructed in the years 1847-1850, after earthworks and a foundation had first been realised. The tower has a diameter of approximately 33 m. The masonry of the facade is executed asymmetrically: the walls on the east side are thicker than those on the west side. The tower of the Fort at Asperen has three storeys, including the basement storey. The facade ends with a roll course; on top of the building there is traditionally a several-metres-thick earth covering with a system for water storage within it. Around the tower there was until around 1880 a ring-shaped, wet moat; during modernisation this moat was filled in, with the resulting space on the east side being used for the construction of the counterscarp. The facade was provided all around with numerous facade openings of different types and sizes (especially arched and slit openings, some recessed); these contain iron and wooden closures. On the counterscarp side these (now adjacent to the earthwork) openings have been sealed. The access opening, with a slightly arched lintel in contrasting natural stone and with double wooden doors, is located on the north-west side. Above the access '1847'.

The access opens onto a circular courtyard (light and air duct), onto which several rooms open. In the facade here, more or less recessed (semi-circular) facade openings (with natural stone setting pieces among others) are placed. Doors and closures are absent. The round courtyard of the tower extends to the top of the building. This core of the tower is surrounded by a vaulted, broad corridor, which provides access to the radially placed remaining rooms, which originally contained among other things sleeping quarters. In the walls various arched access and window openings are placed under double stretches. Cast-iron window frames with radially divided lights at the top. The walls inside the tower are predominantly white-washed, with contrasting plinths. Iron hooks on the ceilings for hoisting components of guns.

Valuation

The TOWER of the Fort at Asperen is of general importance because of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the New Holland Water Line as designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and initially from 1815 realised by him, Jan Blanken and major-engineer Willem Offerhaus and thereafter strengthened and improved by others for 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 component from the period 1841-1864, namely an example of a tower as part of a fort at a river access, from the years 1847-1850, built according to the insights of military engineer J.G.W. Merkes van Gendt.

* Ensemble value and situational values as part of the New Holland Water Line. Also because of the functional and physical coherence with the other components of the complex.

* The component is relatively rare because it is one of the few remaining towers in the Netherlands and it is representative of the development of this fort type because for military-tactical reasons it has been provided with a protective counterscarp.

* The component is well preserved because numerous characteristic elements in exterior and interior have been retained and remain recognisable.