Walingsdike

Anyone who used to be banned by a city court was no longer allowed to enter the jurisdiction of that city. Its boundary was marked with banposts. East of this ^18th-century specimen, the jurisdiction of Hoorn began. In the middle of the pole is the year 1408. Then a series of villages east of the pole came under Hoorn jurisdiction. 

During a restoration in 2024, the unicorn, long brown, regained its red color after thorough color research. The red corresponds to the official city arms of Hoorn. There have been more ban posts on the Omringdijk, and not just from Hoorn. Most disappeared when the Netherlands faced the French in 1795. Inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution, many villages wanted to break away from urban jurisdiction. In 1810, the city courts were abolished. 

The Omringdijk originally ran through the land on the other side: the Mijzen. This situation was not ideal, because the Mijzen was adjacent to two lakes: the Schermeer to the west and the Beemster to the east. They had emerged from peat rivers around 1200. 

The water in the lakes was often pushed up by the wind. Because the old dike (red line on the Map) was low and vulnerable, a new one was built around 1350 on the current alignment, the Walingsdijk (arrow). The Mijzen now served as a buffer. 

Between 1607 and 1612, the Beemster was drained. This had major consequences, because several polders, including the Mijzen, discharged their water into the lake. The reclaimers therefore had to dig a ring canal between the old polders and the Beemster. This runs north along the Mijzen to the Walingsdijk (arrow on the photo), just before the village of Avenhorn. The photo shows the Mijzen on the left, the Beemster on the right.

Of course, the level in the ring canal was not allowed to rise too high. Therefore, the dryers also dug a drainage canal from the Schermeer to the Zuiderzee. This runs from Ursem along the Walingsdijk and then via the ring canal at Avenhorn and Oudendijk to the sea, now the Markermeer. The part along the Walingsdijk is called Ursemmervaart. 

In 1658 the Ursemmervaart was included in the Hoorn-Alkmaar canal. For 165 guilders a year, payable to the Beemster, the towns were allowed to use the Mijzerkade opposite the Walingsdijk as a towpath. There a horse would pull the barge. The fact that the towns had this right also meant that they had to maintain the quay. The tow canal has disappeared, but it remains important for the storage and removal of excess water.