Hoogland's Comfort Canopy

2.2.2 History and Archaeology
Before 1798, the territory of Hoogland included
Hoogland and Emiclaer. These were areas with
their own administration and jurisdiction. However,
the introduction of the French municipality organization
created the municipality of Hoogland on
January 1, 1811.
Hoogland had a business relationship with Amersfoort.
It was common in the proximity for farmers
from more distant municipalities to own a few hectares
of land in these polders. Hoogland land was
too far from Amersfoort residents to monitor the
young cattle that stayed there from May to November.
A solution was to outsource this work to a polder
farmer, someone who grew up there and was
well known. These people were called the keepers
(de bewaarsmannen) (Ridder, 1996). Wim de Ridder
himself is shown in the photograph in Figure
2.2.2.
During WO I and WO II Hoogland had to endure
frequent natural disasters throughout its history
and battles during the First World War (WW I) and
the Second World War (WW II). Many old farmhouses
were destroyed. Along the Eem there was
a line of defence for Dutch troops and the Germans
fired heavy during WW II (Willemse, 2019). Then,
around the ’50s, Hoogland grew vastly in the areas
Langenoord and Bieshaar. After the war, Amersfoort
continuously expanded and needed more
space for housing. Despite the intensive resistance
of Hooglanders, Hoogland has been a part of the
municipality of Amersfoort in 1974 (Amersfoort op
de Kaart, n.d.). Although Hoogland got more surrounded
by the new housing of Amersfoort in Kattenbroek,
Nieuwland and Schothorst, the village
characteristics stayed intact.
There are no legally protected archaeological monuments
within the area. There are, however, areas
with archaeological values and expectations.
Bieshaar Zuid has a high archaeological expectation
because this is a cover sand ridge. From a soil
perspective, these types of soils are often characterized
by a thick cultural cover, which means that
the archaeological remains can be well preserved.
The high expectation applies to both hunter-gatherers
and farmers.
Figure 2.2.2: Wim de Ridder with a bull
(Source: http://historischekringhoogland.nl)
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