A few centuries ago, the Wadden Islands had a number of islands richer. Until the late Middle Ages, the island of Bosch lay off the coast of Groningen, between Schiermonnikoog and Rottumeroog. With the All Saints Flood of November 1, 1570, the worst flood disaster in Dutch history, the island largely disappeared under the waves. In 2005, the eastern tip of Schiermonnikoog is located on the location of the western side of the former island of Bosch.
The flooded island of Bosch
- All Saints Flood and the Vanished Island
- Full moon for Wadden Island Bosch
- Schiermonnikoog
- Pirates
- Letter of marque
- ‘Stormlood’ by Ynske Penning
All Saints Flood and the Vanished Island
The island of Bosch did not survive the storm surge of 1570. The row of dunes had been washed away and the island became the playthings of wind and water. The sandbank slowly sank into the sea. Nearly a century later it was wiped off the map. The Simonszand sandbank is now located approximately on the site of Bosch .
Oil bump
Bosch was also called Oliebult after a Spanish oil ship that sank there in the 19th century.
Full moon for Wadden Island Bosch
A team of geologists, historians, archaeologists, biologists, museum staff and beachcombers made a study of the island of Bosch. To find out what kind of island it was, who inhabited and used it and whether or not it was a pirate island, research was conducted at regular intervals. That is by no means easy in the Wadden area. They had to take into account high and low tides, which left only a few hours to investigate a location.
Wad archaeologists
The best time to look for interesting layers is after a full moon or new moon and preferably after a storm. When all these ingredients came together, the Wad archaeologist went looking for Bosch.
Schiermonnikoog
Researchers didn’t find much, but they did find something: remains of previous habitation under the dunes of Schiermonnikoog. The remains date from the 16th century. These remains were discovered with ground-penetrating radar.
Pirates
The signs indicate that Bosch was hardly inhabited. It was probably mainly used for grazing cattle. The island has been in the hands of the Aduard Monastery, several wealthy Groningen families and Charles V. Research also points to a role in piracy. The island was located on a busy trade route and a ship would regularly strand there, a victim of the elements or deceptive beach robbers.
Letter of marque
The 2006 research by the multidisciplinary team culminated in an exhibition in the Het Hoogeland open-air museum in Warffum. There was 16th century maps on display showing what the island looked like. Through a letter of marque from the then monarch to a captain, we could read about pirate practices in the Wadden area and a copy of a split pirate skull showed that things could end badly for a beach robber.
Source: Book Storm surge
‘Stormlood’ by Ynske Penning
Bosch at the time of the All Saints Flood is the setting for an exciting love story about which Ynske Penning wrote a novel. Uitgeverij Noordboek presented the first copy at the opening of the exhibition in 2007. The book is called Stormlood.
About Storm Surge
The spectacular demise of the Wadden Island of Bosch at the beginning of the 80 Years War. During the renovation of an old building in the city center of Groningen, two centuries-old diaries are found, together with a mysterious letter. The writer of the letter is on the Wadden Island of Bosch on November 1, 1570, while a hurricane rages violently around her log cabin…
Storm surge: the spectacular demise of the Wadden Island of Bosch at the beginning of the 80- year war
- Author Y. Penning
- Publisher Kok, 2007
- ISBN 9033005662, 9789033005664
read more
- Restoration Island – Island of Captain Bligh and the Bounty
- Wadden island Ameland is the size
- Trembling Mountain – Temporary volcanic island near Pakistan
- Easter Island – the island with the Moai statues
- Rømø – Danish Wadden Island in the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site