Burghorner polder
The first real polder was conquered from the sea west of Schagen in 1456: the Burghorner polder. This polder lies just one kilometre from our park!
With the advent of the windmill, reclamation on a large scale would become possible.
Zijper polder
The first major speculative undertaking was the embankment of the 6,775 ha Zijper salt marshes, which, after some failures, succeeded in 1597. The result was promising and invited to transform the bottom of large lakes, which were suspected to consist of sea clay, into fertile arable land and pasture.
Beemster
Just imagine living there. Some 3.5 metres below sea level. Complete madness! That is what many foreigners will think. We know better. In the 17th century, man conquered land from the water here and changed the inland lake De Beemster into a beautiful and open polder landscape. Tightly divided according to a geometric pattern of perfect quadrants. Later, characteristic cheese-cover farmhouses and historical villages were built on. De Beemster is a UNESCO World Heritage site.