The Peat Cutters

As early as 1595 the Pagnevaart was mentioned under the names Paedsievaart, Paesievaart and Pagievaert. All corruptions of Spagnevaart, because it was thought that remains of an old Spanish warship lay buried in the soil here. A few hundred years later a serious attempt was made to find those remains and to extract peat at the same time. The workers who were given that task were called the Peat Diggers… Treasures and riches One of them was Willem Hendriks, an older laborer who was working under very poor conditions in the Pagnevaart. The foreman told him it was all about the high quality peat, but Willem knew better… It was about only one thing. Searching for valuable treasures and riches from the old Spanish warship! One thing was certain: if he found anything valuable, he would do everything to keep it out of the hands of those slavers!