Sunset by Stephan Scheffer

About "Sunset"

by Stephan Scheffer

About the artwork

In the Middle Ages the coast at Petten consisted of a dune strip one kilometre to the west of the present coast. In the 15th century the Sint-Elisabethflood (1421) caused a breakthrough which swept away a large part of the dune belt. The dunes were restored afterwards, but the sea continued to erode the dunes on the sea side, which was compensated by sand suppletion on the land side. This flexible coastal defence, in which the dune strip shifted eastwards over the years, meant that land was surrendered to the sea. In the 16th century, the shifting of the dune slope was halted by the construction of pile structures along the coastline, as revetments to protect the foot of the dune slope, and groynes (breakwaters that protrude into the sea at right angles to the coastline). These reinforcements could not prevent a breach in the very heavy storm surge of 1570 (All Saints' Tide). When in the 17th century the pile turrets and heads fell into disrepair, flexible coastal defenses were used again, whereby the dune strip shifted eastward. In 1880, the vulnerable sand dike, which had been in its current position since the end of the 18th century, was significantly reinforced. The marram grass vegetation on the slope on the sea side was replaced by a deck of basalt blocks. This sea dike finally proved to be resistant to heavy storms. In 1981, the dike was raised to the delta height of 11.5 meters above sea level.