Smalbraak, J..

Mooi (in 't) holt - De bosgeschiedenis van Nationaal Landschap Winterswijk.

Historisch geografisch tijdschrift 31 (2013) 35 - 50.

De bossen rond Winterswijk stonden in de 19e eeuw al bekend om hun formidabele eiken en hun rijkdom aan zeldzame plantensoorten. 'Mooi holt' in beide betekenissen van het woord: hout en bos. Nog steeds liggen veel boerderijen in de Oost-Achterhoek 'mooi in 't holt' en zijn er vele kleine oude bossen te vinden waarvan de bodem bezaaid is met voorjaarsbloemen. Samen met de houtwallen zijn de bossen bepalend voor het kleinschalige coulissenlandschap rond Winterswijk. Welke factoren hebben bijgedragen aan deze kleinschaligheid en ecologische rijkdom, en aan het behoud van dit waardevolle cultuurlandschap? Welke sporen van dit verleden zijn terug te vinden in de bossen en in de verhalen van mensen?

Appealing wood. Woodland history of the National Landscape Winterswijk.

This article reviews the long-term development, the biography, of the woodlands of National Landscape Winterswijk, in the eastern part of the Netherlands. Fossil pollen shows that the prehistoric cycle of increase and decrease of the size of the wooded area, influenced by man, was not so different from what happened in other parts of the sand covered landscape in the eastern part of the Netherlands. After the disappearance of trees and woods from the commons during the 16th till the 18th century, plenty of small woods, called 'busch' or 'erffenbos', remained near the farmhouses. Several trials in the 16th and 17th century were necessary before it was established in 1775 that, consistent with old 14th century court laws, villeins remained owners of the valuable oak trees, provided that they conserve the woods. This may well have attributed to the later wealth of some and to the development of the large so called 'scholten' farmhouses. Parts of these widespread small woods are now ancient woodlands with remnants of old vegetation and rare indigenous trees growing here naturally. The planting of new woods started at the end of the 18th and continued during the 19th century. These new woods consisted predominantly of oak and pine meant for timber, and less of underwood, as was common in the rest of the Netherlands. Interviews with farmers, foresters, and forest workers showed some father-to-son inheritance of forest management traditions.