Cornelius Vermuyden

Cornelius Vermuyden
Born1595 (1595)
Haestinge, Zeeland, Dutch Republic
Died11 October 1677(1677-10-11) (aged 81–82)
London, Kingdom of England
Citizenship
  • Dutch Republic
  • Kingdom of England (1633–1677)

Sir Cornelius Vermuyden (Dutch pronunciation: [kɔrˈneːlijəs fərˈmœydə(n)]; 1595 – 11 October 1677)[1] was a Dutch engineer who introduced Dutch land reclamation methods to England.

Vermuyden was commissioned by the Crown to drain Hatfield Chase in the Isle of Axholme, Lincolnshire.

In the 1650s, he directed major projects to drain The Fens of East Anglia, introducing the innovation of constructing washes, to allow periodic flooding of the area by excess waters.[2]

  1. ^ Harris, Lawrence Ernest (1953). Vermuyden and the Fens. London: Clever-Hume Press. ASIN B0000CILLT. Many sources give his dates as 1595 – 1683, but Harris found a burial record, though no birth record.
  2. ^ "Cornelius Vermuyden". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.