Bart Schultz
The total surface area of polders in France is at least 145,000 hectares. Some polders are very old. For example, there are the wateringues of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais, a polder area of approximately 90,000 hectares between Dunkirk and Calais that has been developed since the twelfth century. The soil now lies at approximately mean sea level. The dune strip along the coast offers partial protection against the ingress of the sea. As is the case in many old polder areas, drainage initially took place under natural gradient, but due to subsidence, sea level rise and stricter requirements for water management, this has gradually been replaced by drainage by pumping.
In an article published in 2005, historian Toussaint writes that very old polders were created in the Marais de Saintonge and in the Marais de Poitou by monasteries in the Middle Ages. In the Languedoc, polders were also created from 1314 onwards by order of monks from the Benedictine monastery of Psalmody near Aigues-Mortes. He also describes how a number of marshes were reclaimed around Bordeaux in the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth century: the Marais de Bordeaux, the Marais de Bruges, the Marais de Blanquefort and the Marais de Perempuyre (later renamed Marais Flamand).
In 1891, the Comte de Dienne gave a detailed description of the types of marshes and lakes that had been reclaimed before 1789, as well as the reasons for the reclamations. These were mainly to prevent diseases, to reclaim agricultural land and for military defence.
The reclamations in France also involved the input of Dutch and Flemish experts and financiers on a number of occasions. This involvement was based, among other things, on a request from 1596 by the French King Henry IV to Humphrey Bradley – although his name was English, he was Dutch – to assess the possibilities for reclamation of marshes north of Bordeaux. Because people were apparently very satisfied with the results of his work, Bradley was appointed grand maître des digues du royaume shortly afterwards, which he would remain until his death.
The Marais de Lesparre was reclaimed in the first half of the seventeenth century based on a design by the well-known Jan Adriaansz. Leeghwater. The polders were renamed Polders de Hollande. In 1633, the Marais Vernier was reclaimed. Here, the sea wall is called Digue des Hollandes. Jan van Ens drew up a reclamation plan for the marshes near Arles that was realized in 1645. However, there was a lot of resistance from the local population to these reclamations. There was also a plan of protection against flooding from the Rhône. Ultimately, this reclamation actually failed. Around 1700, there were a number of reclamations in the Médoc, on the left bank of the Gironde, in which the Dutch also made a major contribution. In short, Dutch hydraulic engineers also left their mark on various reclamations in France.
