The IJsseldelta National Landscape

The IJsseldelta National Landscape consists of the Mastenbroek Polder, the Kampereiland, the Mandjeswaard, the Pieper Polder, the Zuider Zee polder, the river land of the IJssel and the Zwarte Water, including old city and town centres, and the Zwarte meer. The IJsseldelta with its river land, centuries-old polders, terp farms and stream banks is one of the 20 National Landscapes of the Netherlands.

Living in the delta where the IJssel and the Zwarte Water (Zwolsche Diep) flow out into the Zuider Zee, was only possible on river dunes and terps. Cities and towns such as Kampen, Wilsum, Grafhorst, Genemuiden and Hasselt were located on these river dunes. The farms on the terps with their high-reaching windbreaks provide relief to the open flat landscape of the polders. A contrast is formed by the banks along the IJssel and the Zwarte Water.

Since the Middle Ages, the northern part of the Kampereiland National Landscape and the other Outer polders have been gradually claimed from the Zuider Zee and were sub-divided in an irregular way. The southern part forms the Mastenbroek polder, which has the oldest geometric lots in our country (1364). The Zwarte Meer, which has high nature value, is a part of the former Zuider Zee, but also constitutes a part of the IJsseldelta National Landscape.

In the second half of the fourteenth century, the city of Kampen started with the creation of dikes in the delta of the IJssel. As a result of the delta formation fourteen islands had been formed: the start of the Kampereiland and the other Outer polders. The phased process of creating polders is still evident in the different dikes and wharfs, which follow the ‘fingers’ of the delta and sometimes dam them in. The irregular structure of land sub-division, which still characterises this ‘island’, is related to the flow of several former branches of the IJssel, such as the Noorddiep, the Ganzendiep and De Goot. In the flat polder land, one sees the occasional solitary farm, built on a terp(also called a belt), as a precaution and surrounded by trees to be somewhat protected against the wind.

Between Kampen, Zwolle, Hasselt and Genemuiden, and to the south of the Kampereiland lies the Mastenbroek polder. During the fourteenth century, this polder was transformed from non-land into fertile land. In this case however, it involved the exploitation of a peat swamp and not the poldering of parts of the Zuider Zee. In terms of the approach current in the Middle Ages, this was done in a rational way, which was facilitated by the fact that there were so few streams. Based upon three watercourses that had been dug parallel to one another, a geometric and large-scale parcelling of land was realised, which is reminiscent of the pattern that was used centuries later in the reclaiming of the Schermer and the Beemster in North-Holland. During the land consolidation that took place in the 20th century, this structure remained largely intact.

The building development in this polder again consists of farms located on terps. Ribbon development also occurs on the former Zuider Zee dike on the northern side of Mastenbroek, in the town of Kamperzeedijk. The many eddies show that this dike was not always up to its task.

Cities and town such as Kampen, Wilsum, IJsselmuiden, Grafhorst, Genemuiden and Hasselt have many historical buildings. For example, Wilsum has a church from 1050, which therefore makes it the oldest in Overijssel.

Core qualities
• Oldest rational geometric parcelling of land in the Netherlands
• An extremely open landscape
• Residential terps and stream banks