The Netherlands
Thinking of Holland
I picture broad rivers
meandering through
unending lowland:
rows of incredibly
lanky poplars, huge
plumes that linger
at the edge of the world;
in the astounding
distance small-holdings
that recede into space
throughout the country;
clumps of trees, town-lands,
stumpy towers, churches
and elms that contribute
to the grand design;
a low sky, and the sun
smothering slowly in mists, pearl-gray,
mother-of-pearl;
and in every county
the water’s warning
of more catastrophes
heard and heeded
(Hendrik Marsman, Memory of Holland)
Denkend aan Holland
zie ik breede rivieren
traag door oneindig
laagland gaan,
rijen ondenkbaar
ijle populieren
als hooge pluimen
aan den einder staan;
en in de geweldige
ruimte verzonken
de boerderijen
verspreid door het land,
boomgroepen, dorpen,
geknotte torens,
kerken en olmen
in een grootsch verband.
de lucht hangt er laag
en de zon wordt er langzaam
in grijze veelkleurige
dampen gesmoord,
en in alle gewesten
wordt de stem van het water
met zijn eeuwige rampen
gevreesd en gehoord.
(Hendrik Marsman, Herinnering aan Holland)
Dutch agricultural landscapes
1. Cultural dimension
Considered in national planning and policy
2. Typical agricultural landscape types
- Plateau-landscapes with open fields in the south-eastern part of the country.
- Sandy landscapes, characterised by enclosures, small open fields and extensive former commons now partly agricultural, partly forest
- Medieval fenland reclamations, mainly with strip fields and linear settlements
- Drained lakes, characterised by planned field-pattern and dispersed farms
- Marshes, with partly medieval landscape of villages and irregular fields, partly medieval and later reclamations with planned field-pattern and dispersed farms
3. Cultural elements connected with national agricultural landscape
- Hedges
- Drainage ditches
- Dikes
- Polder mills (for drainage)
- Ponds
4. Disciplines and professions dealing with agricultural landscapes as cultural heritage
- Historical geography
- Archaeology
- Some architectural historians
- Some landscape architects
- Ecologists
5. National governmental departments dealing with agricultural landscape and cultural heritage
- The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
- The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science
- The Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment
