De Vecht (Overijssel) by WILBERT HEIJKOOP photography

About "De Vecht (Overijssel)"

by WILBERT HEIJKOOP photography

About the artwork

The Vecht valley
In the Netherlands, the Overijsselse Vecht flows between the higher-lying regions of Drenthe and Twente along the south side of a valley that is remarkably wide for this river. The original valley of the Oer-Vecht was formed in the penultimate ice age (the Saalien). Meltwater flowing south from the land ice to the west cut deeply into the landscape. Fluvioglacial sands later largely filled this primeval stream valley. Due to truncation of the erosion valleys in the Weichselien, drainage remained difficult in the Holocene as well. Peat developed in the resulting lakes.

On the north side of this primeval stream valley now runs the Reest, which originated in the extensive peat. In the Middle Ages, an esdorpenscape arose on the sandy soils of the Vecht. On the higher ridges near the villages arable complexes arose, the so-called "essen". These 'essen' were largely fertilized with manure from sheep that grazed on the heathlands further from the river. This manure was combined with heather sods in the potting shed and then applied to the ashes. This created a layer of very fertile soil on the ashes, in some places more than a meter thick. In addition, the relief was further enhanced in this way. Along the river lay the grasslands (partly hay, partly pasture). The valley between the higher situated ashes is the Vecht valley in a narrower sense.