An eight-figure along the defence works of Schouwen
Burgh-Haamstede, Renesse, Noordwelle
The salty air, the lovely beaches and the many, many holiday parks, hotels and restaurants... Since the 1960s, the Kop van Schouwen has been completely set up for tourism and recreation. It is hard to imagine that several military battles have taken place here. Yet the region has seen many war battles. Looting by Vikings, the Battle between Holland and Flanders, the Eighty Years' War against the Spaniards and the Second World War: the Schouwen landscape was the scene of these battle scenes. Around the year 900, Zeeland had five Ringwalburgs, which were built to protect the population from Viking raids. The places where the fortresses stood can be recognised by their place names. Domburg, Middelburg, Oost-Souburg, Oostburg and Burgh. Many mysteries still exist around these primitive structures. The Ringwalburg in Burgh is a reconstructed version of the one from the Middle Ages. Can you figure out the riddles? We continue through history. At the time of the late Middle Ages, counts were in power. There were a number of noblemen in Schouwen, including Witte van Haemstede and the knights from the Van Cats family. They lived in built seigneuries: houses or castles that had arisen from wooden motte castles. The villages of Noordwelle and Zuidwelle together formed the seigniory of Welland, with Noordwelle to the north and Zuidwelle to the south of a creek. Where you now find the holiday homes of Hofstede Welland, a castle must have once stood. Lordships from that time that have survived are Slot Moermond and Slot Haamstede. Besides housing, they were of great importance as defensive fortifications. The counts of Holland and Flanders, despite their mutual feudal lordship system in which Holland borrowed the Zeeland landscape from Flanders, were in constant conclave with each other. In these stories, we encounter the Zeeland noblemen again. Finally, in 1323, at the Peace of Paris, it was settled that Zeeland and the Scheldt region belonged to Holland. When these conflicts were finally resolved, two centuries later the Spaniards arrived. The Eighty Years' War took place. The now resurrected Cornelius Church played an important role in the liberation. Jumping ahead in time, we now find ourselves in the era of the Second World War. Scattered in the Zeepeduinen and in the Slotbos are about 40 Second World War bunkers, part of the Atlantic Wall. Slot Moermond and Slot Haamstede were also part of this line of defence built by the German occupiers. One of the largest and most important bunkers was the Wing bunker. From here, commands and information were transmitted to the surrounding bunkers. The Kop van Schouwen was one of the longest occupied parts of the Netherlands. The Ten of Renesse had to pay for this with hanging in late 1944, a punishment that had never before been given in the Netherlands during the war. As beautiful and peaceful as this tourist piece of Zeeland is now, it was such a battleground in the centuries before. Can you imagine it? This Premium route was compiled by our editor: Anne de Zwaan.
| Directions | Distance | Total distance | |
|
Start: Burghse Ring 24, 4328 LL Burgh-Haamstede | 33.6 KM | |
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From
72
to
73
|
461 M | 0.5 KM | |
| Head northeast on Burghse Ring | 461 M | ||
| You are now at section 73 | 0 M | ||
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From
73
to
76
|
9272 M | 9.3 KM | |
| Head northwest on Moolweg | 797 M | ||
| Make a slight left onto Vertonsweg | 765 M | ||
| Turn left | 300 M | ||
| Continue onto Kloosterweg | 340 M | ||
| Make a slight right | 85 M | ||
| Continue onto Kloosterweg | 161 M | ||
| Turn right onto Maireweg | 969 M | ||
| Turn left onto Duinhoevepad | 1.5 KM | ||
| Turn right onto Oude Hoevepad | 1.7 KM | ||
| Continue straight | 92 M | ||
| Turn left | 302 M | ||
| Make a slight right | 1.6 KM | ||
| Continue onto Duinweg | 603 M | ||
| You are now at section 76 | 0 M | ||
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From
76
to
75
|
577 M | 0.6 KM | |
| Head southeast on Scholderlaan (R102) | 561 M | ||
| Continue straight | 16 M | ||
| You are now at section 75 | 0 M | ||
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From
75
to
77
|
2133 M | 2.1 KM | |
| Head northeast | 69 M | ||
| Turn right onto Laone | 450 M | ||
| Turn right onto Stoofwekken | 522 M | ||
| Turn left onto Stoofweg | 1.1 KM | ||
| You are now at section 77 | 0 M | ||
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From
77
to
78
|
749 M | 0.7 KM | |
| Head southeast on Stoofweg | 749 M | ||
| You are now at section 78 | 0 M | ||
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From
78
to
74
|
4792 M | 4.8 KM | |
| Head southwest on Smidsweg | 348 M | ||
| Turn left onto Dorpsring | 82 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Dorpsring | 340 M | ||
| Turn right onto Lokkershofweg | 19 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Lokkershofweg | 3.4 KM | ||
| Make a slight right onto Serooskerkseweg | 618 M | ||
| You are now at section 74 | 0 M | ||
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From
74
to
73
|
953 M | 1 KM | |
| Head west on Serooskerkseweg | 36 M | ||
| Turn left onto Noordstraat | 10 M | ||
| Continue onto Noordstraat | 269 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto Ring | 61 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto Weststraat | 577 M | ||
| You are now at section 73 | 0 M | ||
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From
73
to
72
|
461 M | 0.5 KM | |
| Head southwest on Burghseweg (R108) | 461 M | ||
| You are now at section 72 | 0 M | ||
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From
72
to
71
|
3172 M | 3.2 KM | |
| Head south on Weeldeweg | 430 M | ||
| Turn left onto Leliëndaleweg (R108) | 100 M | ||
| Turn right | 426 M | ||
| Turn left onto Meeldijk | 2.1 KM | ||
| Turn left onto Suikerdijk | 99 M | ||
| You are now at section 71 | 0 M | ||
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From
71
to
70
|
3308 M | 3.3 KM | |
| Head southeast on Havenplateau | 168 M | ||
| Turn right | 1.5 KM | ||
| Make a slight right | 161 M | ||
| Turn right | 115 M | ||
| Turn left onto Cauersweg | 104 M | ||
| Turn left onto Westerseweg | 701 M | ||
| Turn left onto Hoogh Plaetweg | 579 M | ||
| You are now at section 70 | 0 M | ||
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From
70
to
72
|
7747 M | 7.7 KM | |
| Head west on Kampweg | 572 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Kampweg | 792 M | ||
| Turn left onto Steenweg (R112) | 185 M | ||
| Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit | 22 M | ||
| Exit the roundabout | 304 M | ||
| Turn left onto Kraaijensteinweg | 63 M | ||
| Continue straight | 199 M | ||
| Turn right | 5 M | ||
| Turn left | 161 M | ||
| Turn left | 53 M | ||
| Turn right | 1.5 KM | ||
| Turn right | 1.4 KM | ||
| Turn right | 242 M | ||
| Turn left | 479 M | ||
| Turn right onto A. van der Weijdeweg | 528 M | ||
| Turn left onto Hogeweg | 1.2 KM | ||
| Make a slight right onto Burghse Ring | 63 M | ||
| You are now at section 72 | 0 M |