Ellewoutsdijk

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Ellewoutsdijk is a small village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It belongs to the municipality of Borsele and sits about 18 kilometers east of Vlissingen, near the Westerschelde estuary. The area covers around 6.4 square kilometers and the village has about 375 residents (2021). It lies close to sea level, roughly 0.9 meters high.

History:
The name first appears in 1216 as Elewoldesdike, meaning the dike of Elewold. The village grew on a terp (artificial hill) on the former island of Borssele. A creek once flowed to the market square but has since silted up. A church has stood on the terp since at least 1216; the medieval church was destroyed in 1944 during World War II. A new Dutch Reformed Church was built from 1948 to 1951 on the same site.

To the north stood a castle, whose ruins were removed after 1822. The Zorgvlied estate was built nearby in 1881 on the castle site as the summer residence of J. C. van Hattum, a dredging entrepreneur; it was destroyed in 1944 and later replaced by a modern villa. The surrounding park was damaged by the North Sea flood of 1953.

Fort Ellewoutsdijk was built between 1835 and 1839 to guard the Westerschelde after Belgium’s independence. The Germans expanded it during World War II and used it as a prison. After the war it served as an ammunition depot for the Dutch military. Since 1981 the fort has been owned by Natuurmonumenten and is open to the public.

Ellewoutsdijk had 706 residents in 1840. A railway station opened in 1927 on the Goes-Hoedekenskerke line but closed in 1934. The village was an independent municipality until 1970, when it merged into Borsele. In 2003 the Westerscheldetunnel opened, connecting Ellewoutsdijk with Terneuzen; it is the Netherlands’ longest tunnel. The nearest car exit is about 10 kilometers away.