While on holiday vacation on the small Dutch isle of Texel, the boys, my wife and I visited the small fortress of "de Schans". Build during the 80 Years War or Dutch Revolt to safeguard VOC shipping, the fortress was enlarged in 1811 after Boney himself visited the Island on his tour through the Netherlands.
Above: view from the fortress ramparts. Below: two views of the only gun still emplaced there.
The main-gate, seen from the inside of the fort.
While most of the fort is covered in earth, it was originally a brick building.
Driveway and drawbridge leading up to the main gate.
View from the road towards the glacis
My youngest tries to help dad read the information-sign.
To the right of the building (a waterpump to keep the area dry) one can see the silouette of the fort.
A large part of the seawards-facing fortifications have been re-used to build dikes to keep the nearby town of Oudeschild dry. The present dike is easily 4 meters higher than the fort, therefore making it rather difficuldt to shoot at shipping at this time.
At this moment in time I have no plans to do anything hobbywise with this, but who knows in the future.
Cheers Sander
5 comments:
I visited as well when I was on Texel 2 years ago (well, Texel is not that bog, so plenty of time to visit everything there is to see in a few days :-)). Visiting old sites always provides a lot of wargaming inspiration!
Good to hear that you have been enjoying some well earned rest!
Cheers gents! The fortress is small enough to be a feasible terrain project but big enough to present a scenario challenge. But let's get the stuff on the pile done first.
What a lovely day out and a great bit of history as well. I wonder how many guns were positioned on the island during the 80 Years War vs the Napoleonic Wars?
Thanks Curt, well more in Napoleonic times, simply because Napoleon ordered two more outworks (Lunette and Redoubt) to be build in order to protect the Fortress's flanks.
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