Fort, vesting en -onderdelen, Voordorpsedijk bij 28

English translation

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Description

Cluster 35. Fort installation with caponier and earthworks.

NEW HOLLANDIC WATERLINE

Introduction

FORT INSTALLATION WITH CAPONIER AND EARTHWORKS, COMPRISING (REMAINS OF) GUN EMPLACEMENT POSITIONS, BRIDGE SUBSTRUCTURE, WET MOAT WITH OUTER BANKS AND DIVERSION AND MAINTENANCE ROADS AND WITH BOUNDARY STONES TRADITIONALLY MARKING THE MILITARY ZONE as basic components of Fort Voordorp. Forts were usually constructed on the basis of pre-positioned earthworks which served as a foundation and prevented subsidence in (a wet and soft) soil. In the construction of the forts, besides this usually already tactically 'pre-formed' earthwork - which in itself could already play a defensive role - a specific layout was also realised which was intended to increase the 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 enemy fire, earth ramparts which covered buildings and open terrain and determined contours, and paved paths and parade grounds. Forts were surrounded by (wet) moats to prevent any approach to the fortification or fort terrain up to the last moment. Forts were usually only accessible via one or more bridges or via a narrow strip of land. Where for water management or other reasons a permanent direct connection between interior and exterior existed, it was executed in such a way that it could not or only with the greatest difficulty be crossed. The use of so-called zigzag parapets, monks (especially in fortifications) and / or gates was customary here. Along the outer side of the moats often lay a road or path, which could be laid out in the form of a covered way, or level with, or even above ground level. These roads or paths could have different functions, ranging from public road to maintenance path, and also from military covered way to exclusive access road to the fort. Outside the wet moat there is moreover often a zone (traditionally and still in part) marked with boundary stones as such over which the Ministry of War had authority, the Military Crown Land.

Fort Voordorp was no exception to this principle, but there was no glacis along the roads around the fort, while the Military Crown Land did not extend - except in the form of some garden land on the south side - beyond the (maintenance) roads. A rather uncommon fact was the fairly substantial modification of the fort from 1878 onwards, whereby not only the front side was turned somewhat in a southern direction, but the surface area of the earthwork also decreased and the trapezoidal shape disappeared. An addition from this period is the caponier, centrally located on the (new) front side. A caponier is an advanced defensive work (with triangular layout), also created as (flank) protection of a rampart or curtain. Remains or traces of the older layout or other values may still be present in the soil. The fort was traditionally accessible via a bridge over the moat on the south-west side; this has meanwhile been replaced by a younger specimen, for which the existing substructure was used. Part of the ramparts has been reconstructed, but the layout of the parts of the fort at ground level has been largely utilised for the arrangement of parking facilities. Traces or remains of the earlier layout may still be present here. Furthermore, new construction has taken place centrally on the work for use as a conference and congress venue. The inundation area and field of fire are still fairly clearly recognisable.

Description

FORT INSTALLATION WITH CAPONIER AND EARTHWORKS, COMPRISING (REMAINS OF) GUN EMPLACEMENT POSITIONS, BRIDGE SUBSTRUCTURE, WET MOAT WITH OUTER BANKS AND DIVERSION AND MAINTENANCE ROADS AND WITH BOUNDARY STONES TRADITIONALLY MARKING THE MILITARY ZONE (c. 1869-1870, modified 1878-1879). Substantially triangular with angular bastions on the (north) west and the northern bastion and a bastion with rounded corners on the south side. Centrally on the front or east side the pointed caponier. On the work various earth-covered structures and remains or traces of gun emplacement positions. Along the outer edge of the fort an earth rampart has been constructed, in and against which bomb-proof structures, including a postern as part of the caponier. In the run-up to the Second World War, part of the ramparts on the south-east side was partly replaced by the construction of some Group Shelters Type P. The fort is surrounded by a spacious moat which follows the contours of the earlier fort layout and which is bounded by the maintenance path (south side) and the diversion road (Voordorpsedijk, north side). Within the moat are mortared bridge abutments and piers. The layout also includes the zone originally marked with boundary stones as such over which the Ministry of War had authority, the Military Crown Land.

Valuation

FORT INSTALLATION WITH CAPONIER AND EARTHWORKS, COMPRISING (REMAINS OF) GUN EMPLACEMENT POSITIONS, BRIDGE SUBSTRUCTURE, WET MOAT WITH OUTER BANKS AND DIVERSION AND MAINTENANCE ROADS AND WITH BOUNDARY STONES TRADITIONALLY MARKING THE MILITARY ZONE of Fort Voordorp is of general importance because of:

* Cultural-historical values as part of the New Hollandic Waterline 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 over more than 125 years.

* 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 race with increasingly strengthened offensive means (19th century), c. the system of 'living' field fortification in depth (20th century).

The component is an example of a largely earth-based layout, with earth coverings for structures with different functions from the period 1869-1870, improved and adapted around 1878 and in 1939-1940.

* Archaeological values because of the possible remains or traces in the soil of earlier building phases, gun emplacements, trenches, earthworks, waterworks, roads and the like.

* Ensemble value and situational values through the location within the system of the New Hollandic Waterline in general and through the recognisable relationship with the field of fire and the inundation zone.

* The component is representative because it is an example of a fort which shortly after the initial layout in 1869/70 was already adapted to new circumstances and requirements in 1878 and still displays many characteristics of this.

* The component is well preserved because part of the earth embankments, the adapted ground plan, the moat and the maintenance path have largely remained unchanged.