Schokland

Schokland was a long, narrow island in the Zuiderzee, worn away by storms until living on it stopped being possible and the last inhabitants left in 1859. Decades later the Zuiderzee was closed off and the Noordoostpolder pumped dry around it, so the island is now a low ridge standing a few metres above flat farmland, with the old wooden church, the harbour works and the outline of the shore still in place. It was the first Dutch entry on the World Heritage list, chosen as a record of the long argument between this country and its water. The ring path around it takes about an hour and the former coast stays obvious the whole way.

Highlights

• The church and the ridge - the surviving wooden church on the raised line of the old island.
• The harbour and sea defences - timber piling and stonework that once faced open water.
• The museum - finds from the island and the account of why it was given up.
• The ring walk - the path around the former shoreline, with fields on both sides of it now.

When to go

Spring through autumn, when the museum and cafe keep longer hours and the walk is dry underfoot. Weekdays are quiet. There is no shade on the ridge and no shelter in rain, so a clear day is worth waiting for. Winter opening is reduced and the polder wind is relentless across open ground.

Things to know

It takes imagination. Without the museum first, the site is a grassy bank in a field and the point is easy to miss entirely. The museum is small and mostly in Dutch, with limited English labelling. Public transport is poor and the last stretch is a walk or a cycle ride. Allow for wind, which never really stops here.

Nearby

Urk, the old fishing town on the same former coast, is about twenty minutes away.