Reemst in 1722

One of the natural parks in the Veluwe, The Netherlands, is Planken Wambuis. It is a dry area with sand drifts, heather, grasslands and coniferous forests. It used to be called The Reemsterveld.

For centuries it was in the possession of Rosendael Castle except for two prosperous agricultural enclaves: Mossel and Reemst (now Oud-Reemst). Those were a thorn in the side of the High Lords and Ladies of Rosendael. In 1722 the new owners of Rosendael Castle, Torck – Van Hoorn, had enough money to buy these two enclaves as well; finally their estate was complete.

To celebrate this they had the cartographer B. Elshoff make a series of maps. He made an overview map of the Reemsterveld plus detailed maps of the farms of Oud-Reemst, Mossel and Nieuw-Reemst. The maps measure about 60 * 90 cm and are made with pencil on paper.

The couple must have been entirely happy to hang this beautiful series on the wall in their caste to show off to visitors.

In the Gelders Archive I find three maps that I think are drafts for the overview map.

On top of this I find in the Gelders Archive this map which is archived as ‘Beetroot fields located in the Reemsterveld along the Amsterdamse Weg in Ambt Ede’, anonymous, ca 1774. The handwriting resembles Elshoff, so I include it in his series. But it sounds unlikely that there have been Beetroot fields in Reemst. Reemst was just sand and heather. Heather and beetroot resemble in Old Dutch: heet and beet. It must be a typo.

Location of the maps: