Sounding scale post Edam
It is hardly noticeable. This gauge pole is one of the smallest National Monuments in Edam. Somewhat out of place, the bluestone memorial pole stands under a tree between the dike and the old lockkeeper's house of the Sea Lock. If you look closely, you can see an important inscription on this post from the 18th century.
Storm surge of 1775
On the night of November 14-15, 1775, there was a very strong northwest storm. Due to strong gusts of wind and a lot of water rushing into the Zuiderzee from the North Sea, the water rose very quickly. This storm surge caused six breaches along the Zeevang sea dike north of Edam. The entire Zeevang polder was flooded. Because it was already late in the year, the cows were already stabled and could be saved. They were driven into the Beemster, among other places. The sheep were outside and thousands of them eventually drowned.
That night workmen went to the dike to help. Around 2:30 in the morning, Edam-based Zeevang dike grave Costerus walked from town along the Oorgatat to the dike to see how things were going. He just didn't get very far. The present sea lock was not there then, the water was turned back by the Sassluis, located a little further inland. The sea flowed over it on all sides and Costerus had to turn right around. At three in the morning, the population was warned by the ringing of the emergency bell and the sounding of drums. The inhabitants of the houses north of the Organ Hole had to flee from the water pouring over the dike.
Inscriptions
Because of this storm surge of 1775, it was found that the alerting at high water levels was not good. Therefore, this gauge pole was installed. There are two marks on the nearly 2½-meter high pole. The upper mark indicates three o'clock in the morning. That is the level reached at 3:00 a.m. on the storm night of 1775.
The lower mark indicates: Volk na dyk. When the water had risen to this level, all men from the Zeevang had to come to the dike with shovels. Here they had to lay down sandbags and stretch dike sails on the threatened spots. This would hopefully prevent it from failing again.
Additional