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Population
The statistical area "Aartswoud", which also can include the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 490.[Statistics Netherlands (CBS)]
''Statline: Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2003–2005''
As of 1 January 2005. Earlier counts typically combine Aartswoud with Hoogwoud.
Hoogwoud and Aartswoud, combined
*1457 (1841)
*1460+ (1844)
*2091 (1875)
Nature reserves and other attractions
The village is home to a cattle museum, whose mission is to save older varieties of cattle from extinction.[ Nearby is the windmill Westuit Nr. 7, also known as Koggemolen.] Three nature reserves near the village, the Weelpolder, the Braakpolder, and Kolk van Dussen, are governed by Landschap Noord-Holland.
Weelpolder
The Weelpolder nature reserve is adjacent to the village.
Braakpolder
Aartswoud gives access to the Braakpolder (''braak'', "breach", points to its origin; it results from a former breach in the dike).[ The Braakpolder is now a nature reserve, and farmers who rent this land are obliged to keep the land as natural as possible, and may for instance mow the grassland only after the chicks of wading birds such as the Northern lapwing have flown.][ The Braakpolder is one of a dozen or so of the most important archeological locations in the province, with remains as old as 2500 BCE. To safeguard them the water level was raised, to create a more oxygen-poor environment that prolongs their existence. South of the Braakpolder is an area called Braakpolder Zuid, which was set up to function as an overflow in times of high water.
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Kolk van Dussen
Nearby is the Kolk van Dussen; the kolk also owes its existence to a breach in the dike, later repaired.[ In 1640 the entire Kolk was diked in: the reed growing in it belonged to the churches of Aartswoud and ]Hoogwoud
Hoogwoud (; West Frisian: ''Hougwoud'') is a small city in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Opmeer, and lies about northeast of Heerhugowaard.
History
Hoogwoud was first mentioned in 1289 as Officii de ...
(the Kolk was in the separate municipality of Hoogwoud, which merged with Opmeer in 1979). The soil level in the reed grounds had risen more than a foot and a half above the surrounding land, and thus the reed harvest became less each year, the reed being a source of income for the churches. They asked to be allowed to polder in the entire area, and despite protests from the other landowners (who would have to sell their land to the province and would also have been responsible for payments to maintain the dike) the Kolk was surrounded by a dike—the Omringdijk already protected the north, and a high dike was constructed in the south. An 1894 source reports a mill with screw pump
A screw pump is a positive-displacement pump that use one or several screws to move fluid solids or liquids along the screw(s) axis.
Three principal forms exist; In its simplest form (the Archimedes' screw pump or 'water screw'), a single sc ...
on the west, with the water draining into the canal which at the time also served as the outlet for the Stoomgemaal Vier Noorder Koggen, the steam-powered mill that drains the water from Aartswoud.
The Kolk was recently again breached to restore wetland habitat. Meadow birds in the area include the Northern lapwing, the Black-tailed godwit, the Eurasian oystercatcher
The Eurasian oystercatcher (''Haematopus ostralegus'') also known as the common pied oystercatcher, or palaearctic oystercatcher, or (in Europe) just oystercatcher, is a wader in the oystercatcher bird family Haematopodidae. It is the most widesp ...
, the Great crested grebe
The great crested grebe (''Podiceps cristatus'') is a member of the grebe family of water birds noted for its elaborate mating display.
Taxonomy
The great crested grebe was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in t ...
, the Common redshank
The common redshank or simply redshank (''Tringa totanus'') is a Eurasian wader in the large family Scolopacidae.
Taxonomy
The common redshank was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ...
, the Common shelduck, the Black-headed gull
The black-headed gull (''Chroicocephalus ridibundus'') is a small gull that breeds in much of the Palearctic including Europe and also in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory and winters further south, but some birds r ...
, and the Pied avocet
The pied avocet (''Recurvirostra avosetta'') is a large black and white wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae. They breed in temperate Europe and across the Palearctic to Central Asia then on to the Russian Far East. It is a ...
.
The Westfriese Omringdijk runs along the Kolk, and the bicycle path between Aartswoud and Lambertschaag goes through it;[ there is an observation tower.] The landscape evidences the entire history of the West-Frisian land, including ''inversieruggen'' (higher areas of sand in former mudflat areas), ''daliegaten'' (holes formed by the digging up of clay, which then filled up with peat that continues to sink, as opposed to the surrounding clay ground), the Omringdijk itself, and the subdivision (''verkaveling'') of the 17th century. While much of the area has lost its small-scale relief through levelling, old meadows of Cynosurus cristatus
''Cynosurus cristatus'', the crested dog's-tail, is a short-lived perennial grass in the family Poaceae, characterised by a seed head that is flat on one side. It typically grows in species rich grassland. It thrives in a variety of soil types ...
are still present. Those meadows are helped by the restoration of former seasonal water levels: higher in the winter, lower in the summer.[ Clay pits in the northern part of the area are home to ]Common reed
''Phragmites australis'', known as the common reed, is a species of plant. It is a broadly distributed wetland grass that can grow up to tall.
Description
''Phragmites australis'' commonly forms extensive stands (known as reed beds), which may ...
and a variety of rare orchids. Part of the area has been turned into a wetland designed to mimic the tidal landscape that existed before the Omringdijk and to serve as a reservoir at high water. A creek is surrounded by wet grasslands, attracting wading birds; the area is likely to flood once every five years, and can contain 60 000 m3 (2.1 million cu ft) of water.[
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References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
Archaeological sites in the Netherlands
Neolithic sites of Europe
Nature reserves in the Netherlands
Opmeer
Populated places in North Holland