The Inventory Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in the Netherlands contains ICH of which the communities, groups or individuals involved have written a safeguarding plan. Those plans are reviewed by an independent review committee. Every three years an evaluation of the safeguarding takes place.

Description

 

A seigniory (Dutch: heerlijkheid) is the medieval predecessor of today's government bodies such as municipalities. They were owned by a lord, a private individual who thus held the right to government authority. Attached to a seigniory were all kinds of lordly rights, some of which still exist today.

For instance, in the seigniorial areas of Baarsdorp and Sinoutskerke, sheep are still grazed along the dykes and verges, a custom called “grassetting”. The sheep are periodically taken to a grazing area for this purpose. When the sheep have grazed the ground, they move on to the next patch. Ideally, the sheep do not spend the night on site and are brought to and from the grazing area. The sheep are driven along the roads for this purpose; this is called the sheep drive. Performing the sheep drive and grass setting requires both good handling of sheep and also knowledge of where and when the land can best be grazed. Baarsdorp and Sinoutskerke, instead of being done by a shepherd, choose to have people from the community do this as much as possible.

Trees, including border lime trees, are also planted in the area of the seigniories. The latter category of trees marks the boundaries of the seigniories. For the other trees, given Zeeland's clay soil is becoming increasingly dry, it is important to choose the right species. This too requires knowledge.

The above mentioned traditions will be carried out on the basis of the old property rights of grassetting, sheep drive and planting rights associated with the seigniories of Baarsdorp and Sinoutskerke, a highly recognisable phenomenon for the people from the Zuid-Beveland peninsula. For the execution of the heritage, a schedule will be drawn up after which volunteers will be involved. These volunteers come from the community consisting of the villagers of Baarsdorp and Sinoutskerke and people who feel involved in the heritage.

Community

The practitioners are the people who actually carry out the heritage. These are almost always volunteers from the community who, together with foundation board members, organise, carry out and/or supervise the activities. By getting to work with the heritage together, they are connected not only with the heritage itself, but also with each other and the place where the traditions take place. This involves about 500 people, who, actively or passively (via internet/social media) gather knowledge by seeing/doing/experiencing it with their own eyes.

History

 In the early Middle Ages, the seigniories of Baarsdorp and Sinoutskerke originated as an administrative body. The Dutch word “heerlijkheid” then meant “government authority in the hands of a private individual”. The owner not only had government authority, but also all kinds of rights, the centuries-long exercise of which became heritage. In 1795, the seigniories were abolished as an administrative body. As a result, a seigniory can only be referred to in the sense of a “property complex of still existing seigniorial rights”. Over the past 227 years, many traditions associated with seigniories have been abolished or lost. Think of the swan drive and duck decoy. These traditions had an economic component, which has gone lost over the years. As a result, interest in safeguarding these traditions declined. Over the past 40 years, the three remaining traditions of Baarsdorp and Sinoutskerke have been legally protected.

 Because the community attached importance to these three traditions, they were also protected in practice. The reason for this was the land consolidation De Poel-Heinkenszand, to which the community objected from the point of view of culture and nature conservation. This contributed to the fact that in the deed of land consolidation, the lordships were appointed as owners of the seigniory rights with the associated traditions. Several years ago, the current lady of the manor, as owner of the lordship, chose to further safeguard the heritage. The reason for this was that many conversations had shown that people in the area felt a strong need for the continued existence of these traditions and the seigniories. In response to this, the decision was made in 2020 to set up a foundation for safeguarding together with volunteers/practitioners around which a community was built.

 

Safeguarding

  • There will be monthly discussions on how to communicate about the heritage.
  • There will be multiple monthly postings on social media.
  • There is a periodic newsletter with news about the seigniories.
  • Articles about the seigniories' heritage are being prepared for newspapers and magazines.
  • An event will be set up.
  • A nature map of the area will be made that also mentions the heritage. This map will be added to the Cultural History Map of the province of Zeeland.
  • Cooperation will be sought with events organised by other parties, such as joining the national tree planting days.
  • Contact has been made with the village councils, water board and municipality of Goes and municipality of Borssele.
  • The relationships with The Heemkundige kring, Heemschut and Erfgoed Zeeland will be further developed.

Contact

Stichting tot Behoud en Beheer van de heerlijkheid Sinoutskerke en Baarsdorp
Keizersgracht 241
1016 EA
Amsterdam
Noord-Holland
Website