The sandy landscape covers a large part of the Netherlands. It goes without saying that it consists of sand, but the landscape is still very varied. There are high and dry areas, but also wet and low areas. Drift sand plains, which used to be seen as an environmental disaster, are now tourist attractions in the Netherlands.
- The landscape: general
- Celtic fields
- Agriculture
- Brinken
- Essen
- Lateral moraines
The landscape: general
The sandy landscape in the Netherlands was inhabited from an early age. The higher parts were especially attractive. In addition, the area is easy to work with, so it was easy to determine the layout. In the sandy landscape there are high moraines, but also sand cover plains and old river terraces. There are also areas where boulder clay still occurs. This variation influenced how humans arranged the landscape. Settlements and building plots could move with ease and so, for example, the forests were gradually transformed into heaths, which in turn resulted in a wetter soil. After all, the forests held more water than the moors. Incidentally, most of the sandy landscape is high enough not to be flooded, yet this landscape used to suffer from flooding. The brook valleys and sand cover layers were regularly under water in times of heavy rainfall.
Celtic fields
Few visible traces of agriculture remain in the sandy landscape. And the exception to this are the Celtic Fields. These can still be observed in forests and heaths. A celtic field consisted of squares surrounding parcels by wallets, which served to separate parcels. The land was used intensively for a short time and then left alone. Thus the country had time to recover. Today we would call this three-building.
Agriculture
In the sandy landscape, arable farming is possible in the high, dry areas. The soil must then be fertilized. This has ensured that villages arose in the past. The manure came from the cattle and so territories were created that consisted of arable farming and livestock farming. As the population grew, the manure had to be used more sparingly. This created the pot stables. A deeper part was excavated in these stables. When the cattle were in the barn, the manure was stored / potted here. Organic material was regularly thrown on top. The cattle then turned this up and that is how sod fertilization (animal manure mixed with organic material) was created. Agriculture in sandy landscape areas has never taken place on a large scale, yet it has affected the area. Drifting sand plains were created by, for example, overgrazing. The sand could be retained by planting the drifting sand areas. In the Netherlands we still have drifting sand areas. Lots of people recreate here.
Brinken
An important part of the sandy landscape are the open plains within the villages. This used to be on the outskirts of the village, but it has been enclosed by buildings. Cattle were collected in a green area and the farmer could take the cattle as a herd to joint pastures.
Essen
In the tenth century, the arable area was expanded. This is how large arable land complexes were created, which we call ash trees. Essen consist of several parcels of different owners. In this way, farmers could grow more food and thus provide better food for the increasing population. The property boundaries of the plots were only marked by grass strips or stones. Essen has different allotment patterns. We distinguish: block-shaped ash, single-stripe ash, multi-stripe ash, Gewannes. We find ash trees in places like the Gooi and the Veluwe.
Lateral moraines
Lateral moraines also occur in the sandy landscape. Moray walls were created by deposits from the river, consisting mainly of gravel and sand. About 150,000 years ago, ice covered our landscape up to the line Haarlem-Utrecht-Nijmegen. The deposits of the river were pushed up by the weight of the protruding ice tongue. When the ice had melted again, the moraines remained.
Well-known moraines are the Grebbeberg and the Utrecht hills.