Ellewoutsdijk () is a village in the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

province of

Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...

. It is a part of the municipality of

Borsele Borsele (; ) is a municipality in the southwestern Netherlands on Zuid-Beveland. The name of the municipality is spelled with a single s; the name of the eponymous village is Borssele, spelled with double s. The municipality is mainly known fo ...

, and lies about 18 km east of

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an importan ...

History

The village was first mentioned in 1216 as Elewoldesdike, which means " dike of Elewold (person)". Ellewoutsdijk developed in the 11th century on a ridge on the former island of Borssele. A creek used to extend to the market square, but has silted up. A church was known to be located on a ''

terp A ''terp'', also known as a ''wierde, woerd, warf, warft, werf, werve, wurt'' or ''værft'', is an artificial dwelling mound found on the North European Plain that has been created to provide safe ground during storm surges, high tides and ...

'' (artificial hill) since 1216. The medieval church was destroyed in 1944 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Between 1948 and 1951, the current

Dutch Reformed The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal fami ...

church was built on the foundations of its predecessor. It is an aisleless church with a wide tower. A castle used to be located to the north of the village, and was home to the Lord of the ''

heerlijkheid A ''heerlijkheid'' (a Dutch language, Dutch word; pl. ''heerlijkheden''; also called ''heerschap''; Latin: ''Dominium'') was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and Judiciary, judicial unit in rural areas in the Dutch-speaking ...

'' Ellewoutsdijk, Driewegen, Everinge en Coudorpe. The ruins of the castle were demolished after 1822. Zorgvlied is an estate built in 1881 on the location of the former castle Ellewoutsdijk as the summer residence of J.C. van Hattum, owner of a

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing d ...

company, who had made his fortune during the construction of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

. The estate was destroyed in 1944. A modern villa has been built in its place. The park was damaged during the

North Sea flood of 1953 The 1953 North Sea flood () was a major flood caused by a heavy storm surge that struck the Netherlands, north-west Belgium, England and Scotland. Most sea defences facing the surge were overwhelmed, resulting in extensive flooding. The ...

. was built between 1835 and 1839 after the

independence of Belgium The Belgian Revolution (, ) was a conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. The ...

to control the

Westerschelde The Western Scheldt ( ), in the province of Zeeland in the southwestern Netherlands, is the estuary of the Scheldt river. This river once had several estuaries, but the others are now disconnected from the Scheldt, leaving the Westerschelde as ...

. After the

German invasion of the Netherlands The German invasion of the Netherlands (), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands (), was a military campaign, part of Case Yellow (), the Nazi German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) and Fran ...

, the Germans extended the fort and used it as a prison. After the war, it was used by the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

as an ammunition depot. It had been owned by

Natuurmonumenten Vereniging tot Behoud van Natuurmonumenten in Nederland (), also known as Vereniging Natuurmonumenten, is a Dutch nature conservation organization founded in 1905 by Jacobus Pieter Thijsse and Eli Heimans, that buys, protects, and manages nature ...

since 1981 and is publicly accessible. Ellewoutsdijk was home to 706 people in 1840. In 1927, a railway station was built on the

Goes The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), operated by the United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service division, supports weather fo ...

Hoedekenskerke Hoedekenskerke is a village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Borsele, and lies about 22 km east of Middelburg. History The village was first mentioned around 1280 as Hoedekinskerke, and means "(private) ...

railway line, but it closed in 1934. In 1944, the village was severely damaged during the

Battle of the Scheldt The Battle of the Scheldt in World War II was a series of military operations to open up the Scheldt river between Antwerp and the North Sea for shipping, so that Antwerp's port could be used to supply the Allies in north-west Europe. The oper ...

. Ellewoutsdijk used to be an independent municipality until 1970, when it was merged into

. In 2003, the Westerscheldetunnel opened which is located between Ellewoutsdijk and

Terneuzen Terneuzen () is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands, in the province of Zeeland, in the middle of Zeelandic Flanders. With almost 55,000 inhabitants, it is the most populous municipality of Zeeland. History First mentione ...

. It is the longest tunnel in the Netherlands. The nearest exit is by car from the village.

Gallery

File:FortEllewoutsdijk-SouthEast.JPG, Fort Ellewoutsdijk File:EllewoutsdijkHafen.jpg, Harbour File:EllesdiekWeêle.jpg, View on Ellewoutsdijk File:Westerscheldetunnel - panoramio.jpg, Westerscheldetunnel

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Zeeland Former municipalities of Zeeland Borsele Populated coastal places in the Netherlands