Westfriese Omringdijk

The Westfriese Omringdijk is over 126 kilometers long and some 800 years old. The dike, as the name suggests, runs around West Friesland. For the West Frisians, the dike has been their support and refuge from the raging waters throughout the centuries. For once West Friesland was surrounded by water from all sides. The traces of the struggle against the water come to life with stories, photos and Maps. From pumping station Lely to the Kolk van Dussen, from the Zijpe to the Zuiderdijk.

Read the stories here on the website or use the Westfriese Omringdijk app. This app brings to life the traces of the struggle against water at the locations themselves.

  • Burghorn

    The Schagerpaal forms via via a reminder of the first major land reclamation in North Holland more than 550 years ago.

  • Keinsmerwiel

    In the Middle Ages, the dike often broke during storm surges. This sometimes created swirl holes (wheels) several meters deep, such as the Keinsmerwiel.

  • Discharge of the Schagerkogge

    At Kolhorn, excess water from the former Schagerkogge Water Board was discharged through a sluice.

  • Kolhorn

    Kolhorn was located by the sea until 1844. It was a real fishing village with fishermen's homes and a small harbor on the Omringdijk.

  • Discharge of the Niedorperkogge

    Between 1654 and 1911 there were five iron mills here. These "stroked" excess basin water to the upper chamber.

  • Discharge of the Raaksmaatsboezem

    This 1883 lock served to drain the Raaksmaatsboezem. This consisted of a number of lakes, including the Heerhugowaard.

  • Kolk from Dussen

    In 2008, the old Dussen Kolk polder was set up as a water storage facility. It has a capacity of 60,000 cubic meters.

  • Lely Pumping Station

    Two pumping stations were built to drain the Wieringermeer: pumping station Lely near Medemblik and pumping station Leemans near Den Oever.

  • Radboud Castle

    To keep West Friesland in check, Floris V had five castles built. Radboud Castle is the only one that has survived.

  • Four Noorder Koggen Steam Pumping Station

    Pumping station Vier Noorder Koggen near Medemblik kept the polders of the water board of the same name dry between 1869 and 1977.

  • The Dyke Worker

    This statue commemorates the efforts of many generations of dike workers who created and preserved the dike with shovel and wheelbarrow.

  • Trial Polder Andijk

    Prior to the embankment of the Wieringermeerpolder, the Trial Polder was constructed at Andijk in 1926-1927.

  • Wierdijk Enkhuizen

    The Wierdijk was constructed in 1567. At the time, this characteristic sea wall was the only obstacle to the raging Zuiderzee.

  • Het Grootslag

    The polder Het Grootslag extends from Andijk in the north to Broekerhaven in the south. It was a watery area until the last century.

  • Zuiderdijk

    Between Hoorn and Enkhuizen, the Omringdijk is called Zuiderdijk. It has been moved inland several times over the centuries.

  • Mill Schellinkhout

    Of the thirteen polder mills along the Zuiderdijk, only one remains: the Great Mill of the old Schellinkhout polder.

  • Dyke warehouse Scharwoude

    Dike warehouses held materials and tools to prevent a dike breach or fill a hole, such as wheelbarrows, shovels and sandbags.

  • Breakthrough at Scharwoude

    In 1675, the water wave struck here mercilessly. Even today, the scars of the dike breach are still clearly recognizable.

  • Pumping station C. Mantel and the Schermerboezem

    Thanks to the arrival of basin pumping station C. Mantel, HHNK is no longer dependent on locks for drainage on the Markermeer.

  • Walingsdike

    This banpost between Avenhorn and Ursem indicates the old boundary of the jurisdiction of the city of Hoorn.

  • Noordschermerdijk at Rustenburg

    The mills along Noordschermerdijk were built at the time for the reclamation of Heerhugowaard.

  • Huigendijk

    The Huigendijk runs from Alkmaar to Rustenburg. It lay four hundred years ago between two lakes: the Heerhugowaard and the Schermeer.

  • Hoornse Vaart

    At the site of the Zeswielen Bridge there used to be a lock. This was removed in the 1930s.

  • Schoorldam and the Rekere

    The Rekere ran from the Schermeer to the Zijpe, then an elongated stream channel. Around 1200 a dam was built in the Rekere.

  • Dike to Krabbendam

    Nuwendoorn Castle was a coercive castle of Floris V to put the West Frisians under his thumb. It was destroyed after his death.