Essen map

The large open field complexes of the pleistocene sandy soils, which originated from the Middle Ages and were for a long time partly shared, partly used individually by the inhabitants of adjacent farms, were called ‘essen’ in a large part of the Dutch sandy soils (other names are ‘anken’, ‘engen’ and ‘akkers’). Essen are characteristic and identity-determining elements in the historical cultural landscape. The ‘essenkaart’ gives an overview of the ash present in the Netherlands, NOT of the spread of plagging decks.