Vreeswijk is a former village and municipality in the
Dutch province of
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...
. The municipality merged with
Jutphaas
Jutphaas is a former village and municipality in the province of Utrecht in the Netherlands. The municipality merged with Vreeswijk in 1971, and is now the northern half of the town of Nieuwegein
Nieuwegein () is a municipality and city in th ...
in 1971, and is now the southern half of the town of
Nieuwegein
Nieuwegein () is a municipality and city in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is bordered on the north by the city of Utrecht, the provincial capital. It is separated from Vianen to the south by the river Lek and borders on IJsselstein in the ...
. The former village was located on the
Lek River, near where it is crossed by the
Merwede Canal.
Name
The name Vreeswijk is documented in an 11th-century text as ''Fresionovvic'' ('Fresion wic'). Other medieval spellings are ''Vresewijk'', ''Vresewike'', ''Vrieswijc'', and ''Vreeswijck''. The place name is combination of ''Fresia'' meaning '
Frisian' and ''wic'' meaning 'farmstead or settlement', thus settlement of Frisians.
History
The old village centre on the locks has been preserved reasonably well. This lock is said to be the oldest example of a
pound lock in Europe.
This was the key innovation which gave rise to the modern
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface f ...
, by virtue of having two gates,
although it was a larger basin capable of holding a number of ships at once. The Lek River was normally at a slightly higher level than the canal leading to
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...
and in times of flood was very much higher, so that it would not be possible to let boats enter or leave without flooding the surrounding land. The additional gate limited the amount of water that needed to be let in, so that only the basin needed to be raised.
See also
*
Fresvik, Norway
*
Freswick, Scotland
* Friezenwijk (
Heukelum
Heukelum is a city in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of West Betuwe, and lies about 8 km northeast of Gorinchem. It received city rights in 1391.
History
It was first mentioned in 996 as Ukele, and mean ...
), the Netherlands
References
Former populated places in the Netherlands
Populated places in Utrecht (province)
Former municipalities of Utrecht (province)
Nieuwegein
{{Utrecht-geo-stub