Zijpe polder – Reinier van Persijn + Jan Dirksz. Zoutman, 1665

THE ZIJPE POLDER – ONE OF THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL LARGE-SCALE LAND RECLAMATIONS IN HOLLAND

“Afbeeldingh van de Zype, haar dykagie, wegen, wateringhen, molens, hofsteden en woningen, mits ganders de scheydinge haarder groote en kleyne letteren.” [Image of the Zijpe, its dikes, roads, waterways, mills, farmsteads and dwellings, together with the division thereof into large and small letters.] Copper engraving made by Reinier van Persijn after the surveying work by Jan Dirksz. Zoutman in 1665. Original hand colouring with later additions. Size: 44 × 67 cm.

After centuries of flooding, the Zijpe was successfully enclosed by dikes in 1597. The reclamation itself, however, was arduous, partly due to the barrenness of the sea sand. The Zijpe thus became one of the first successful large-scale polders in Holland.

Initially, most of the land in the new polder was owned by wealthy Amsterdam merchants and regents who had financed the drainage. Later, the land gradually passed into the hands of notables from Alkmaar and eventually of inhabitants of the Zijpe themselves.

By 1630 the Zijpe polder contained 182 farmsteads and 82 ordinary houses, as well as 44 dwellings in the small Hazepolder near Petten. In 1674 the Zijpe polder counted 2,201 inhabitants, the Hazepolder 188.

Two-thirds of the working population was then employed in livestock farming (cattle for butter, cheese, and meat) and arable farming (grain and pulses). In addition, there were a few duck-decoy keepers, some skippers, and quite a number of tradesmen and craftsmen.

In 1663, at the request of the polder board, a new map was commissioned from engraver Reinier van Persijn (1615–1668) and surveyor Jan Dirksz. Zoutman (1613/14–1679). This resulted in the present splendid map of 1665. Demand for the new map proved strong: a year later, the polder board had to order more copies.

On this fine map we see the reclaimed lands of the Zijpe polder and Hazepolder with the “Noort Zee” (North Sea) at the top. Along the coast fishing boats sail, while East Indiamen pass by on their way to and from the roadstead of Texel. We see dunes and beaches with strolling figures and horsemen; below them the Zijpe sea dike with the polder behind it. The parcels are arranged by letters (large and small) and lot numbers, as indicated in the map’s title.

In the corners appear several cartouches. At upper right is a title cartouche, decorated with two putti and an armillary sphere. At upper left is the coat of arms with a swan bearing a golden collar, which to this day features in the arms of the municipality of Zijpe. At the centre bottom is a large cartouche with the table of allotments and divisions, explaining the different letters. To the left of the table are farmers with livestock, characteristic of the area; to the right, duck hunters with dogs.

The map further depicts various landscape features typical of North Holland’s peat polders: pumping stations, canals, ditches, sluices, a kolk and wiel (flood pools), an outer-dike section (“Het Uyter Landt”), and several other polders and dikes. The “oude Vrieze zeedijk” (old Frisian sea dike) is also marked, which was part of the extensive Westfrisian Omringdijk (enclosure dike).

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