Bredevoort
Bastion Onversaegt (‘Undaunted’), popularly known as Izerman, was one of the six bastions of Bredevoort. It was situated to the north-east of the town, near the site of ’t Kleuterbastion school on Izermanstraat, and formed part of the Bredevoort fortifications. The bastion was excavated and levelled during the 1930s.
On the grounds of ’t Kleuterbastion (nursery school) and the adjacent football pitch lay the eight-metre-high ‘solid’ bastion, equipped with three cavaliers (katten) in each corner. The terreplein was accessible via ramps (oprillen) from Hozenstraat, and possibly via ’t Zand.
Reconstruction
The image shows a reconstruction of Bastion Onversaegt. It illustrates the bastion’s position relative to the houses that stand there today, with the Breede Huus on the left and a corner of the Meestershuus on the right. Some maps suggest that this bastion was equipped with a water reservoir. This is not certain, however, as many houses in Bredevoort possessed their own wells.
The tip of this bastion was located approximately on the centre circle of the football pitch. The flanking streets next to the Kleuterbastion run parallel to the original shape of the bastion. The position of the curtain wall (courtine) between the school and the Breede Huus is still clearly visible today by the line of the hedge. This curtain wall connected the bastion with the adjacent Bastion Treurniet. The outlines of the filled-in moat are still clearly visible on aerial photographs, and remnants of this singel (moat/canal) still exist today.
