Middleburg

A town on the island of Walcharan in the southwestern Netherlands, probably founded as a refuge for the Flemish population in the times of Viking raids. Many of this type of refuge were probably planned by Baldwin of Flanders in the 890s. Middleburg consisted of a simple circular fortress with a massive rampart and ditch. The symmetry of these early fortresses is fossilized in the street plan of modern Middleburg. Excavations show the town was founded about 1000, from which time it has developed as a regional center.

A town on the island of Wal-charan in the southwestern Netherlands, probably founded as one of the string of burhs intended to act as refuges for the Flemish population in the times of Viking raids. Those refuges were probably planned by Baldwin of Flanders in the 890s and at Middleburg and Souburg consisted of a simple circular fortress with a massive rampart and ditch. The symmetry of these early fortresses is fossilized in the street plan of modern Middleburg. It has also been argued that these circular forts were the prototypes of the Danish royal fortresses like Fyrkat and Trelleborg. Excavations at Middleburg have shown that the town was not properly founded until about 1000, from which time it has developed as a regional centre.