Bath is a small village and a former municipality in the Dutch province of Zeeland, lying on the north shore of the

Western Scheldt The Western Scheldt ( nl, Westerschelde) in the province of Zeeland in the southwestern Netherlands, is the estuary of the Scheldt river. This river once had several estuaries, but the others are now disconnected from the Scheldt, leaving the W ...

. It is now located in the municipality of

Reimerswaal The name Reimerswaal () can mean: *Reimerswaal (city) A lost city in the Netherlands **Verdronken Land van Reimerswaal The now-drowned land around the city ** Battle of Reimerswaal on 29 January 1574 during the Eighty Years' War *Reimerswaal (munic ...

, about 10 km southwest of Bergen op Zoom.

History

The village was first mentioned in 1325 as "insula de Boestenbare dicta". The current name refers to the Bad Creek (compare: bath). According to the 19th-century historian A.J. van der Aa, the former village of Bath was hit by floods several times in the 16th century: in 1530, 1532, 1536 and 1539. After these floods, only the church tower of the village was left, but it too had disappeared by the 19th century. In 1773, a part of the area was reclaimed from the sea again, and a fort, Fort Bath, was built in 1785 to protect the ships who collected the toll for passing ships. A small hamlet was built inside the fort; this became the new village of Bath. The structure contained a square fort with three

bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...

s surrounded by a moat. In 1809, it was destroyed by the English, and rebuilt between 1830 and 1834. In 1867, it was deemed obsolete. Bath was home to 299 people in 1840. In 1950, a little church was built by the Free Evangelical Congregation. The village was flooded during the

North Sea flood of 1953 The 1953 North Sea flood was a major flood caused by a heavy storm surge that struck the Netherlands, north-west Belgium, England and Scotland. Most sea defences facing the surge were overwhelmed, causing extensive flooding. The storm and flo ...

. Bath was a separate municipality until 1878 (called "Fort Bath" until 1816), when it became a part of the municipality of

Rilland-Bath Rilland-Bath is a former municipality in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It was created from a merger of Rilland Rilland is a village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is located in the municipality of Reimerswaal. History The village was ...

Transportation

In 1872, the

Rilland-Bath railway station Rilland-Bath is a railway station located 2 km north west of Rilland, The Netherlands. The station was opened on 1 March 1872 and is located on the Roosendaal–Vlissingen railway. The train services are operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen ...

was built on the Roosendaal to

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; zea, label=Zeelandic, Vlissienge), historically known in English as Flushing, is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic l ...

railway line.

Gallery

File:De bouwvallen van de toren van Bath in Zeeland De Batsen Toorn (titel op object), RP-T-1888-A-1808.jpg, The ruins of the church towers in the 1630s File:De Schelde gezien vanaf Bath I.jpg, The

Schelde The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...

as seen from Bath File:Bath, monumentale opslagplaats RM32422 foto2 2012-05-17 10.06.JPG, Former arsenal File:Met militairgebouw - Bath - 20028560 - RCE.jpg, Little church and military buildings

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Zeeland Former municipalities of Zeeland Reimerswaal (municipality)