Fort, vesting en -onderdelen, Wapenplaats bij Asperen

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 68.

NEW HOLLANDSE WATERLINIE

Introduction

CONSTRUCTION OF THE WEAPONS POSITION WITH EARTHWORKS, IN WHICH REMAINS AND / OR TRACES OF GUN EMPLACEMENT SITES AND THE WET MOAT WITH OUTER BANKS, WITH (DIVERSION AND MAINTENANCE) ROADS AND WITH A ZONE MARKED BY BOUNDARY POSTS as part of the defence of the Linge access and inundation works. The weapons position is in fact little different from a small earth fort raised in 1845, in which only very limited structural components built in hard materials are incorporated. Forts were usually constructed on the basis of earthworks previously laid down, which served as a foundation and were intended to prevent subsidence in a wet and soft soil. In the construction of forts, apart from this usually tactically 'pre-formed' earthwork - which could itself already fulfil a defensive role - a specific layout was also realised which was intended to increase defensive strength, ensure the safety of the garrison and facilitate internal and external transport and traffic. Thus there usually came into being, among other things, earth coverings for various structures to make them less vulnerable to enemy fire, earth ramparts that covered buildings and open areas and determined the outlines, and also paved paths and parade grounds. To hinder (enemy) access to the works and thus facilitate defence, forts and similar works were surrounded by a (if possible wet) moat, which in turn was surrounded by outer banks. Here there were often a maintenance road and / or a diversion road. Beyond the wet moat, there was furthermore often a zone (designated as such since ancient times and still partly so) marked by boundary posts over which the Ministry of War had jurisdiction. The Weapons Position at Asperen differs from this general pattern in that, up to the eve of the Second World War (when a Group Shelter Type P was constructed), there were no bomb-proof buildings on the work: the Weapons Position was arranged exclusively as an earthwork. It is also remarkable that at the Weapons Position the diversion road lay within the moat, on the western side of the work at the foot of the rampart, while the public road (usually used as such) cut through and cuts through the work. On both the north and south sides of the work there were bridges for this purpose; opposite the one on the south side was a coupure in the rampart, which in case of (wartime) threat was filled in with earth. The southern bridge has been removed; the northern one, over the adjoining lock, was replaced many decades ago.

Description

The CONSTRUCTION OF THE WEAPONS POSITION WITH EARTHWORKS, IN WHICH REMAINS AND / OR TRACES OF GUN EMPLACEMENT SITES AND THE WET MOAT WITH OUTER BANKS, WITH (DIVERSION AND MAINTENANCE) ROADS AND WITH A ZONE MARKED BY BOUNDARY POSTS consists essentially of a semi-circular earthwork, with a gently curved boundary on the north-western side. The earthwork is largely surrounded by a wet moat and is slightly obliquely intersected by the left Linge dike running there in an almost south-north direction. The two gun emplacement sites - located on the south-west and south-east sides of the work - and the slopes leading to them are recognisable. The terrain is intersected by the road over the left Linge dike. There are still traces and remains of the diversion road at the foot of the rampart, while also of the moat, which on the eastern side partly coincided with the Linge, and of the outer banks of the moat, parts are still present. The zone originally marked with boundary posts as such over which the Ministry of War had jurisdiction - the Military Crown Land - is indicated on the map attached to this document.

Valuation

The CONSTRUCTION OF THE WEAPONS POSITION WITH EARTHWORKS, IN WHICH REMAINS AND / OR TRACES OF GUN EMPLACEMENT SITES AND THE WET MOAT WITH OUTER BANKS, WITH (DIVERSION AND MAINTENANCE) ROADS AND WITH A ZONE MARKED BY BOUNDARY POSTS is of general interest by reason of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie as designed by C.R.T. Kraijenhoff and initially realised 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 art, which is based on: a. the system of inundation and access defence (19th century), b. the competition with increasingly strengthened offensive means (19th and 20th centuries)

This concerns a component from approximately 1845, namely an earth layout with moat.

* Ensemble value and situational values as part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie. Also by reason of the functional and physical coherence with the other components of the complex.

* The component is rare and representative (characteristic) because it is one of the few forts / defensive works in the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie executed mainly or exclusively as earthwork.

* The component is reasonably well preserved because the military earthwork is still fairly recognisable in the field.