Yerseke Moer
It is a former salt marsh complex , which was closed off from the sea by a ring dyke about 1000 years ago . It consists of meadows with height differences. Nevertheless, the original structure of the salt marsh complex can still be recognized. The meadows lie on sandy creek ridges and lower bowl soil . On top is a thin clay layer on top of a thick layer of peat. Before the embankment, the larger creeks have been converted into wide creek ridges together with the adjacent bank walls. Roads have often been built on these large creek ridges and in the former beds. The adjacent high bank walls have often been used as agricultural fields . In the low-lying bowls was alonepasture land possible, especially due to the presence of a salty peat layer in the subsoil.
In the Middle Ages, this peat was dug out on a large scale for salt extraction : the so-called moernering . This created a typical relief , which used to be generally found in the Zeeland "oudland". The Yerseke Moer owes its name to the former salt extraction, the moernering. Due to the great variety of soil factors and the locally occurring saline seepage , ten different vegetation types can be distinguished: sweet and saline grasslands and also pioneer communities. In the area, a walking route has been plotted through the meadows that is freely accessible during part of the year.
Ian