Fort, vesting en -onderdelen, Lunet III Utrecht

English translation

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Description

Cluster 46. Lunette fortification with brick-faced earth ramparts, remains of gun emplacements, wet ditch with outer banks, with (diversion and maintenance) roads and envelope / glacis and with (formerly) boundary-marked zone (military state land).

NEW HOLLAND WATER LINE

Introduction

LUNETTE FORTIFICATION WITH BRICK-FACED EARTH RAMPARTS, REMAINS OF GUN EMPLACEMENTS, WET DITCH WITH OUTER BANKS, WITH (DIVERSION AND MAINTENANCE) ROADS AND ENVELOPE / GLACIS AND WITH (FORMERLY) BOUNDARY-MARKED ZONE (MILITARY STATE LAND) of Lunette III, as fundamental components of the second-southernmost of four mutually comparable defensive works. This concerns an earth defensive work constructed between 1822 and 1826, located between the Kromme Rijn (to the north) and the Koningsweg (to the south). Characteristic of this type of work are the closed front with two faces and the open gorge side. The brick-faced masonry walls, nor the wet ditches are standard elements in lunette-shaped defensive works, but for these four lunettes in Utrecht they are indeed characteristic. At the front side the facing masonry rises from the ditch, which in turn is protected by (remains of) an envelope. Outside the work, the openness of the former field of fire remains clearly recognisable, as does the defensive function with respect to access via the Houtense Vlakte and the railways.

Description

LUNETTE FORTIFICATION WITH BRICK-FACED EARTH RAMPARTS, REMAINS OF GUN EMPLACEMENTS, WET DITCH WITH OUTER BANKS, WITH (DIVERSION AND MAINTENANCE) ROADS AND ENVELOPE / GLACIS AND WITH (FORMERLY) BOUNDARY-MARKED ZONE (MILITARY STATE LAND) of Lunette III, dating from the period 1822-1826. Essentially a symmetrical pentagonal earth work with on the work some earth-covered components and (remains of) earth gun emplacements (emplacements). Around the earth work a heavy brick-faced wall rising from the ditch, several metres high, which transitions into both higher-built flank casemates. The two acute angles at the gorge side (west) of the work are reinforced and accentuated with natural stone blocks. Towards the end of the Interwar period, behind the north-eastern flank two incomplete Group Shelters Type P were constructed in the earth work. In the south-eastern flank a double VIS-casemate was built in 1936. On the work remains or traces of construction and earth works, gun emplacements, trenches, etc. may be present. The zone originally marked with boundary posts as such over which the Ministry of War held authority, the Military State Land, in which the envelope / glacis, in principle forms part of the protected fortification.

Valuation

The LUNETTE FORTIFICATION WITH BRICK-FACED EARTH RAMPARTS, REMAINS OF GUN EMPLACEMENTS, WET DITCH WITH OUTER BANKS, WITH (DIVERSION AND MAINTENANCE) ROADS AND ENVELOPE / GLACIS AND WITH (FORMERLY) BOUNDARY-MARKED ZONE (MILITARY STATE LAND) of Lunette III in Utrecht is of general importance by reason 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 subsequently by others over more than 125 years reinforced and improved.

* Architectural-historical values in particular as an expression of military-strategic building craft, which is based on: a. the system of inundation and access defence (19th century), b. the race with increasingly powerful offensive weapons (19th century), c. the system of 'living' field fortification in depth (20th century).

The component is an example of a largely earth and brick fortification from the period 1822-1826, which in the 1930s was adapted to the requirements of (then) modern defence and warfare.

* Archaeological values by reason of the possibly soil-contained remains or traces of earlier building phases, gun emplacements, trenches, earth, masonry and concrete works and the like.

* Ensemble value and situational values by its location within the system of the New Holland Water Line in general, by its special position in conjunction with three other lunettes and by the recognisable relationship with the field of fire and the access routes to be defended.

* The component is representative because it is a good example of a lunette which since its construction, circa 1825, (in the 20th century) has been adapted to new circumstances and requirements and still displays various characteristics thereof.

* The component is well preserved because the earth works, accumulations, masonry works, the ground plan, the ditch and parts of the envelope have remained largely unchanged.