J. ten Hoopen

Twentse kluundellen

Historisch-geografisch tijdschrift 23 (2005) 54 - 68.

Bij het begrip 'klunen' denken de meesten van ons waarschijnlijk in eerste instantie aan de Elfstedentocht en het daarbij onhandig op schaatsen over land lopen. Maar het begrip kan breder worden geïnterpreteerd. In Twente liggen kluundellen, plekken in het halfnatuurlijke landschap die alles te maken hebben met de bereiding van kluun of kluin, turf op z'n Twents (Schönfeld, 1980).

'Kluundellen' in Twente (province of Overijssel)

In the 18th and 19th century local farmers in Twente, a part of the province of Overijssel, used the fens for the winning of peat on a small scale. The remains of this activity were found by coincidence during nature development activities by Landschap Overijssel. The production of peat on a small scale as practised there used to be very common, but in Twente it was done in what appears to be a very characteristic manner. The places where the peat was tamped by horse or by man were made of stones laid in a very structured manner. In the regional language they are called 'kluun'places, after the word klunen, meaning tamping.