Fort, vesting en -onderdelen, Biltsestraatweg bij 160

English translation

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Description

Cluster 38. Rifle Ranges (IV-VII).

NEW HOLLAND WATER LINE

Introduction

RIFLE RANGES (IV-VII) as components of an ensemble of shooting ranges on Fort De Bilt. A standing army required, among other things, trained infantry and artillery. To bring and/or maintain readiness, shooting ranges were established in many places throughout the country. They are sometimes explicitly marked as such on historical topographic maps, including northwest of Arnhem, near Amersfoort and in a number of places in the dune area (among others near Bloemendaal). At this latter location even the bullet trap is indicated. A bullet trap is a wall or other provision that catches bullets that have missed the target or have penetrated shooting targets. Bullet gates are similar objects, but with a slightly different purpose: by placing bullet gates - fitted with holes - precisely in rows, stray shots could be 'caught'. One bullet gate at the Werk aan het Spoel has been preserved. Most shooting ranges are mapped in the form of a number of more or less parallel dotted lines and a small square. Shooting ranges form part of terrain equipped with targets for practice in shooting firearms. Sometimes these also included shelters for materials, such as target sheds for shooting targets. The shooting ranges on Fort De Bilt and the Werk aan het Spoel do not appear on the so-called Bonne sheets, 1:25,000. (N.B. Forts, as secret military objects, are not or scarcely shown on later (20th-century) editions of the Bonne sheets) The shooting ranges on Fort De Bilt are still largely present and include on the northern part of the fort, among others, the Rifle Ranges (IV-VII), with some bullet gates and a bullet trap at the northeastern end of the range. The four ranges lie centrally on the northern section of the fort, with the end (the bullet trap) at the beginning of the northeastern bastion; they remained in use until after the Second World War.

Description

RIFLE RANGES (IV-VII) on Fort De Bilt from the 1930s, which include, among others, some bullet gates placed in linear arrangement and a bullet trap on a grass field. The length of the four ranges is approximately 100 metres, the width 15 to 20 metres. The bullet gates consist of a series of six or seven concrete gates placed one behind the other, partly clad with wood, angularly constructed with funnel-shaped passages, which could prevent 'straying' of possibly misdirected or deflected bullets. The gates also formed an optical illusion during practice. The similarly funnel-shaped bullet trap formed the final target, in which the bullets were caught and deadened. The shooting range derives special significance from the fact that other ranges and a target shed are located in the immediate vicinity.

Evaluation

The RIFLE RANGES (IV-VII) on Fort De Bilt are 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 implemented from 1815 by him, Jan Blanken and major-engineer Willem Offerhaus and subsequently 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 accesses (nineteenth century), b. the race with increasingly strengthening offensive means (nineteenth and twentieth centuries).

This concerns a shooting range from approximately the 1930s, which is a component of a rare ensemble of comparable objects.

* 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 and in particular with some nearby shooting ranges and a target shed.

The component is representative (characteristic) because it clearly demonstrates the former function through the presence of bullet gates and a bullet trap.

The component is fairly rare because few comparable, largely complete installations from the same period in this form and in association with other military works have been preserved.

The component is fairly well preserved and can still be easily recognized in the field as a built and constructed element.