History

For many Centuries the dunes were some of the more reliable pieces of solid ground in the north west of the Netherlands. The so called Schoorlse Duinen near the apartment have revealed plenty of evidence that people have had small farms in these dry but barren lands.  

For those that understand Dutch: please have a look at the above document.

Museum "Huis van Hilde" in Castricum is definately worth visiting (next to the Castricum Train station).

To fully enjoy this museum a basic understanding of the Dutch Language would be needed though. Or a good guide. For more information contact the museum: https://www.huisvanhilde.nl/engels/

1421 - Sea Level

Having grown up in the Netherlands myself, most of the time I don't even think of the fact that the first 50 kilometers inland from the west coast of the Netherlands is below Sea Level (24% of the country). But now that we spend quite some time in Groet and found out that this Village is an exception to that rule I've become more aware of that feat of engineering. Groet is about 5 meters above sea level.

Just two kilometers to the north-west an impressive Dike can be seen: The Hondsbosse Zeewering. This defence was not always here. In 1421 during the so called "Saint Elisabeth's flood" the storm battered this historically weak spot in the dunes that stood here  and they were wiped away for a 5 km stretch and the sea water even reached the city of Alkmaar. The Dike starts at the hamlet of Camperduin. The Village of Petten disappeared all together and was rebuild a bit more inland. A monument has been erected to remember the old village of Petten and the people that lived there.

In 2015 the Hondsbosse Zeewering became a so called "sleeping water defence". In front of the dike 30 million cubic meters of sand created the Hondsbosse Duinen or Hondsbosse Dunes.

1797 - Battle of Camperdown

Camperduin itself also has a place in history. It was the location, just of the shore, where the British and Dutch held their  so called "Battle of Camperdown" on the 11 of October 1797. The British won this time around and took 11 dutch ships as booty. In the centuries that followed many a Royal Navy ship was called HMS Camperdown.