Stationsweg | passenger tunnel (2016)

Visuals of the future situation by Movares

This archaeological desk study was prepared by The Bridge Office commissioned by MovaresThe reason for this investigation is the planned work on Gorinchem station, for which an environmental permit is required in accordance with the zoning plan. 

At the moment the station has a side platform and an island platform. The island platform is only partly used: the trains only stop on the north side, on the south side there is a fence on the edge of the platform. The intention is to break up the island platform and to build a new side platform on the north side of the tracks. A new tunnel will be constructed with a lift on the station side and a ramp on the north side. The plan area has a surface of approximately 8500 m² and is bordered to the south by the Stationsweg and to the north by the Lindelaantje.

Current passenger tunnel at Gorinchem station

Expectations

According to the municipal expectation card From 2009, a high expectation applies at or near the surface for remains from prehistory to the Middle Ages. This high expectation is related to the location of the Linge river belt in the subsurface that was suspected at the time. More recent data (2012) place the Roman Linge river belt much further to the east. Based on this new data, it is plausible that the plan area is located in a basin area. Geological drilling research from 1963 also shows that these are indeed basin areas. In prehistory, the region with basin areas was often too wet for habitation, with the exception of the high parts of the landscape, the so-called river dunes and basin areas. A low expectation therefore applies for the basin areas. Finds from the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age are scarce in this region. Roman finds in nearby Leerdam confirm that the riverbank of the Linge was inhabited in Roman times, but since this riverbank was located further to the east, the expectation that there will be Roman remains within the plan area is small. From the Late Roman period onwards, many floods occurred and the population of the region declined.

Traveler's tunnel old situation in 1972

The Alblasserwaard probably remained uninhabited for several centuries, but the area may have been visited during this period. To date, no archaeological finds of any significance have been made from this period (3^de until the 8th century AD). From the High Middle Ages the area was again more intensively inhabited, although around the year 1000 the area was still an extensive peat bog with here and there a dune and some stream ridges that protruded above the peat. From the 11^de century, the peat area was reclaimed and settlements emerged. Settlements grew into villages, some of which were granted city rights, such as Gorinchem. Most of the buildings in the reclaimed rural area were located along water and roads. The cadastral map of 1811 does show the old dike of the fortress and the road along the canal to Arkel in the vicinity of the plan area, but no buildings. Based on historical maps, there are no indications of late medieval or modern buildings. Until the railway line and the station were built, the plan area was a marshy zone in an otherwise agricultural area.

Conclusions

Only if there is an undiscovered donk within the plan area on which habitation was possible in prehistoric times up to Roman times, the high expectation according to the municipal expectation map will remain. The chance that an undiscovered donk is actually present here in the cluttered station area is very small. Based on the location in a village area, the archaeological expectation must be adjusted to low. The expectation is also low for the period Middle Ages-Modern Period; the area was probably only used for agriculture since the development of the region and was not inhabited. On the map of 1811, the plan area is largely located in a swamp, not suitable land for habitation. There are no indications of construction in the plan area other than railway and station-related construction from 1883.

Gorinchem station around 1900

For the present plan area, a low expectation applies for all periods based on the desk research. This low expectation is based on the location of the plan area in a basin area - as is also evident from geological drilling. The basin area was too wet for habitation in prehistoric times up to and including the Early Middle Ages (with the exception of a few higher dunes or riverbanks). From the Middle Ages onwards, the area surrounding the plan area was reclaimed and made suitable for agricultural use. Habitation was concentrated mainly along historical roads, which according to historical maps are not located within the plan area. In addition, the soil was damaged by the construction of the existing railway and station at the end of the 19^de century probably already disturbed. Moreover, in the period before that it was a swamp, which was undoubtedly raised for the construction of the railway and station; there is therefore no longer any original soil structure. The planned intervention takes place in this cluttered station and railway zone, in which, also based on the location in the urban area, no archaeological remains worth preserving are expected. Buro de Brug therefore advises against having any further archaeological research carried out.