Fort Pannerden

English translation

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Description

Counterscarp.

NEW HOLLANDIC WATERLINE

Introduction

COUNTERSCARP as a protective, earth-covered, brick masonry that bounds the dry ditch on the outer side around the fort and thereby encloses the scarp and the casemates. The counterscarp was created together with the fort building contained within it and the scarp gallery / linked casemates (1869-1872). No noteworthy alterations have been made since that time. However, restoration did take place of damage that had occurred over time. On top of and on the outer side of the masonry lies an earth rampart with (remains of) a covered path. Counterscarps were applied at numerous 18th and 19th century fortifications, but the form in which it was created at Fort Pannerden is rare in the Netherlands. This concerns a masonry structure encircling the entire fort, bounding the dry ditch and following the contours of the work contained within it quite accurately. Only at the casemates is the distance to the inner walls of the dry ditch somewhat greater. Dry ditches on this scale have always been rare in our country and occurred or occur only in higher-lying regions. Unlike most forts of the New Hollandic Waterline, no (sluice) works were realised at Fort Pannerden to (be able to) establish wet defences around the fort. Apparently reliance was placed on the adjacent rivers and on the defensive capability of the gun positions facing landward.

Description

COUNTERSCARP consisting of approximately three and partly approximately five metres high brick masonry, running around and following quite accurately the contours of the scarp / the linked casemates and the five casemates of Fort Pannerden. The counterscarp consists of heavy masonry standing perpendicular to the dry ditch side with an invisible, wider foundation and with a profile on the outer side that tapers somewhat obliquely towards the top. The transitions from the lower to the higher parts (at the casemates) of the brickwork run at a slight slope and with interlacing and with limited application of natural stone blocks. The walls end with a generous roll moulding. In the brickwork, traces of bombardment damage in the Second World War have been retained during restoration. On top of and on the outer side of the masonry earthworks.

Valuation

The COUNTERSCARP of Fort Pannerden 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 constructed from 1815 by him, Jan Blanken and major-engineer Willem Offerhaus and subsequently strengthened and improved by others over approximately 125 years.

* Architectural-historical values, in particular as an expression of military-strategic building practice, which is based on: a. the system of (inundation and) access defence (19th century), b. the race with strengthening offensive means (19th century).

This concerns a structure from the period c. 1869-1872, namely a bombproof, earth-covered, continuous heavy masonry for the protection of the dry ditch contained within it, the scarp gallery and the five casemates.

* Military-historical and system values, as part of an advanced section of an otherwise virtually continuous military defensive line between the former Zuiderzee and the Biesbosch. This consisted mainly of a coherent system of inundation fields and associated inundation means and of fields of fire. This system was supplemented with diverse types of constructed or established (defensive) works from different periods that served or contributed to the closure and defence of terrain that could not be inundated or other accesses.

* Ensemble value and situational values, due to the functional and physical coherence with the other components of the complex and in particular with the dry ditch, the scarp gallery and the five casemates. * The structure is representative (characteristic) because it still exhibits the physical characteristics that at the time gave rise to its construction and it is rare in terms of execution due to the application of the closed form.

* The structure is well preserved because in terms of structure and physical appearance the main aspects of the condition in the 1880s and damage from 1940-1945 have been retained or thanks to restoration have been consolidated.