List of settlements lost to floods in the Netherlands

This list of settlements lost to floods in the Netherlands is an adapted translation of this list from Dutch, plus some additions from other sources.

"Oud-" is Dutch for "Old". If you cannot find a name, look for it under "Oud-".

Drowned villages and places in Zeeland and West-Brabant NameDescription Aandijke (also Aendike) Drowned village in Zeelandic Flanders. On the former island of Zaamslag. Assenburg Small village on the former island Borssele. It drowned during the storm floods of 1530 and 1532. Avenkerke (also Brielle) One of the 4 drowned villages on the island Wulpen. This island was in the Middle Ages off the coast of Zeelandic Flanders. North of Wulpen was the island Koezand. Northwest was the island Schooneveld. Around 1570 Wulpen island went under. The last remains vanished by the end of the 17th century. Baarzande(also Bardesant, Burdasanda or Bersant) Northeast of the former island Cadzand. Drowned about 1500. Bakendorp (also Badickedorp) Village south of Baarland. The storm flood of November 1530 destroyed Bakendorp. After re-diking it gradually vanished through dike collapses in the Westerschelde. A memory of Bakendorp is the gravestone of pastor Jan Lenaerts who died on 28 April 1518; that stone is now in the church of Hoedekenskerke. Until the 19th century there was by Bakendorp a ferry to Zeelandic Flanders. The remains of Bakendorp could until 1957 be found in the landscape. Afterwards a radical redistribution of multiple allotments of land completed the work of the water and the last remains of Bakendorp vanished. Beoostenblije Settlement near Axel. During the conquest of Axel by Prince Maurits in 1586 its inhabitants had to escape. They never came back. Borrendamme South of Zierikzee. Appears in 1297 for the first time in records. The storm floods of 1530 and 1532 nearly destroyed the village. In 1570 and in 1610 remains of the village were used to stop breaches in the southern dike of Schouwen-Duiveland. The foundations of the church remained visible up to 1822. The church lay 800 meters west of the mole of Zierikzee. Boterzande Drowned coastal village in Zeelandic Flanders north of Biervliet. Occurs in 990 in the files of Saint Peter's Abbey in Ghent. In 992 a farm with associated ground in "Boltreshanda" was given to the abbey. There must have lain there outside the dike considerable mud flat, which is listed in records as "outdike". Boterzande disappeared on 8 October 1375 in the waves of what now is called the Westerschelde. Capelle Capelle near Zierikzee shares with Schuring in the Hoekse Waard the doubtful honour of being the most recently drowned village of the delta. Until 1 February 1953 Capelle was between Zierikzee and Nieuwerkerk. It was a sturdy hamlet, a street with a row of houses on both sides and a crossing point. The North Sea flood of 1953 swept Capelle away and it was not rebuilt. In the area around is only farmland. Coxyde(also Beniardskerke, Bingaerstkerke, Bengerskerke) Village near Oostburg. It belonged to St. Baaf's Abbey at Ghent. It suffered so much from floods. In 1583 Prince Maurits flooded the area around Sluis to block the march of the Spanish commander Parma. The dikes by Coxyde were broken. The current scoured gullies out and sucked Coxyde away into the deep. De Piet(also Mude, Muiden) The name means swimming and sunbathing, for De Piet is now above all known as a recreation area at the south corner of the Veerse Meer. Neat cultivation, neat creek and beach. The landscape there ever offers another bright panorama. But 700 years ago here on the western part of the former island of Wolphaartsdijk was the village of De Piet. The outline of the village was shown by the castle of Muiden. The village went under in 1377. The ruin of the castle stood long as a landmark in the Veerse Gat. Elmare Drowned village in the frontier region of the present-day Zeelandic Flanders and Belgium. Drowned in 1375. The village lay rather alone in an extensive wild peat bog region south of IJzendijke. Graaf Diederik of the Elzas gave in 1134 and 1135 20 bunder (an area unit) of peat ground to St. Peter's Abbey in Ghent. The 20 bunder, 20 hectare, ground lay by a small stream called the Helmare. There was potential fuel, for there peat could be dug out. The monks built there a chapel to the honour of the Virgin Mary, a church dedicated to St. Nicholas, and also a mill. There was a monastery with monks who were linked with the mother abbey in Ghent. They controlled the village. The inhabitants were serfs, but rather property of the monks. Under their leading they brought the surrounding wild ground into cultivation. Elmare became through a way linked with the area around, likewise the drowned Oostmanskerke. Elmare is above all known through a famous fairy story: the village was called repeatedly in the Dutch version of the old animal epic "Reynard the Fox". Emersweert No information Everswaard(also Eversweerde) Drowned village and parish north of Bath. The parish belonged to the bishopric of Utrecht. The church's patron saint was St. John the Evangelist. It vanished during the storm flood of 1530. Ganuenta Drowned Roman settlement in the Oosterschelde in front of the coast of Colijnsplaat. Gaternesse(also Gathernesse, Gaternisse) Village north of IJzendijke. It existed in 1150. It had an extensive ground area. One of its pastors was Wouter Everard, a dynamic entrepreneur, and likely vain. In 1357 he had a polder endiked and named it after himself. The Everardpolder was not allotted long life. Already the same year the dike broke and ran the fresh land reclamation under water. The village Gaternesse went under during storm floods in the 15th century. In 1660 inhabitants of IJzendijke saw for the last time the foundations of Gaternesse. Hannekenswerve Drowned village between Sluis and Aardenburg in Zeelandic Flanders. A considerable village and there lived tidy religious people. In 1169 bishop Walter of Doornik approved that the pastor of Aardenburg and the curate of Hannekenswerve made mutual agreements over their service roster. Until then the pastor of Aardenburg did the weddings, baptisms and burials of the village. Now the curate, with special powers, could do these himself. Quid pro quo? The man had to give a third of his income to the head church in Aardenburg. Excavations in 1964 unearthed the remains of the church, painted crypts and tombstones. In 1421 the region about Hannekenswerve went under water. In 1477 followed a flood. During the Eighty Years' War, in 1583, the inhabitants of Sluis broke the dikes through. A text of 1666 says: "the place where formerly Hannekenswerve was, is flat". The village had vanished from the map through nature and war violence. Approximately on the place of Hannekenswerve now lies Draaibrug. Roeselare A small town near Aardenburg. It was described in 1404 as "lost to the endless days of the sea". Hinkelenoord Drowned village northwest of Woensdrecht. It drowned during the storm flood of 1552 Hugevlet A town northwest of Biervliet in Zeelandic Flanders. Lodewijk van Male, count of Flanders, gave Hugevlet town rights in the 13th century. The settlement existed in 1174. Hugevlet had its own weekly and yearly market, and its own harbour on the Westerschelde. In spite of privileges it never got the chance to become a proper town. In 1375/1376 the Westerschelde did a first attack on Hugevlet. It failed. In 1404 it was successful. Hugevlet vanished for all time in the waves. Kadzand Island and settlement in the mouth of the Westerschelde. It was one of the many islands which in the Middle Ages were in the mouth of the Westerschelde. It flooded in 1375. Kadzand was later attached to Zeelandic Flanders by diking. The settlement vanished. Kalfsteert Hamlet by Perkpolder. In the 16th century a ferry went from Kalfsteert to Waarde. The Nieuhoespolder where Kalfsteert lay, vanished in 1591 in the Westerschelde. Koezand Island in the mouth of the Westerschelde. In the spring of 1344 the dike-builders arrived on the mudflats of Koezand. The endiking happened by instigation of 4 private investors. Amongst them was an official of the town of Bruges. The height of the dike was 10 feet, somewhat more than 3 meter. The width at top was 7 foot, somewhat more than two meter. The charter describing the endiking of Koezand is, as far as is known, the first written piece which described the measurements of sea dikes. Also the organisation of the polder governing board was regulated in details. In the first years there were 28 tenants on Koezand. They did not prosper. Floods did all during the first years and much land was lost. Afterwards followed a hard fight to save the island. In 1276 the tenants could no more produce the costs of the dike. The rent value was halved. A sea arm called the Hedensee separated the islands Koezand and Wulpen from each other. After the island flooded it was attached to the island of Wulpen by diking. It vanished in the waves during the All Saints' Flood (Allerheiligenvloed) of 1570. Mare Drowned village northwest of Rilland. It lay approximately on the site of the present-day Stationsbuurt. The village dates from the 13th century. Its name is first known from about 1280. The village drowned on Saturday 5 November 1530. Michielsdorp No information Moggershil Drowned settlement on a small island at the west of Tholen. It was lost in 1570. Monster Vanished village on the former island Borssele. The name Monster came from "Monasterium", which is Latin for "monastery". It drowned during the storm floods of 1530 and 1532. The area has been re-empoldered since, and the modern village of Borssele is approximately on its site. (Distinguish from the village called Monster in the South Holland province.) Nieuwkapelle Drowned village at the mouth of the Hinkelinge at the south of Kruiningen. The village lay in the Middenhinkelingepolder, which was endiked in 1327. The village was lost by floods in the 17th century. Nieuwerkerk Drowned village in the west of Zeelandic Flanders. It was between Oostburg and Groede at the Nieuwerkerk creek. It existed in 1197. It was damaged by the Allerheiligenvloed in 1570. It was flooded deliberately during the Eighty Years' War, and that washed Nieuwerkerk from the Earth's surface. Nieuwerkerke Drowned village by Arnemuiden on Walcheren. Nummer Zes Hamlet by a drainage sluice in the neighbourhood of Hoofdplaat. Nummer Zes vanished in 1808 in the waves of the Westerschelde. Its name means "Number Six". Onze Lief Vrouw aan Zee Former hamlet by Renesse. It was lost because of the advancing sea and being buried by dunes. Oostkerke Drowned village on the former island of Borssele. It belonged to the bishopric of Utrecht. The village went under in 1530. Oostmanskerke (also Ozemanskerke) Drowned village southeast of Schoondijke in Zeelandic Flanders. Its church is mentioned in 1150. A sacred robe belonging to the church is mentioned in 1391. Orisant Island in the Oosterschelde. Empoldered in 1602, drowned in 1639. The village of Orisant was at the south corner of the island on the left bank of a dammed-off creek called the Vijsse. Oud-Arnemuiden (2 uses) The village Arnemuiden occurs comes for the first in written sources in 1223. According to a record of 1288, Floris V wanted to give town rights to the village, but that never happened. Because the current of the Arne always moved more to the west, the village became threatened, and about 1440 was swallowed by the water. For about 20 years there was a second Arnemuiden. That vanished in the water as well. In 1462 arose the third and definitive Arnemuiden. Oudeman (also Waterland) Drowned village in the Oudemanspolder by the former municipality of IJzendijke. Vanished about 1500. Oud-Bath Some kilometers east of the present-day Bath. It drowned in 1552. Oud-Breskens