Mill De Hoop Wieringerwaard - Wieringerwaard

In this wide polder still one mill rises above the flat land: Mill De Hoop. The silent guardian reminds of a time when five such windmills together pumped the water out of the Wieringerwaard polder. The polder was drained in 1610, shortly after the embankment of the Zijpe polder.

Four mills disappeared over time, when new techniques took over their work. In the 19th century a steam pumping station was placed, which you can see on the other side of the road. Mill De Hoop and the pumping station together mark the transition from wind to steam.

Cycling or walking further? There is a lot to see. Long sightlines, stolp farms, straight avenues and ribbon villages make the Wieringerwaard a characteristic example of the North Holland landscape.

Before the land reclamation here lay wet mudland, outside the ring of the West Frisian Omringdike. Where others saw mud, the Amsterdam mayor Adriaan van Maertenszoon Coetenburgh mainly saw opportunities. In 1597 he applied for a patent to reclaim this area. Dikes were closed, creeks dammed and plots were allotted. In 1611 the Wieringerwaard was a fact: ready for agriculture, ready for enterprise, ready for life.

The first building was by the way not a farm, but the Gemenelantshuys. This polder house was intended for consultation, supervision and governance. Nowadays it is a striking residential house, to be found at the end of this road.

Photo: ©Astrid Zwaag, Municipality Hollands Kroon