2.6 The core region of Venray

The core region of Venray is one of the four such regions investigated as part of the Meuse Valley Project. This region, in the middle of Limburg, covers the territory of the city of Venray and parts of the cities of Meerlo-Wanssum and Vierlingsbeek. It is bordered by, among others, the Loobeek and Lollebeek brooks and the River Meuse. In the west the area is bordered by the Peel, an area of moorland largely levelled for peat production around the turn of the century. The surface of the study area is approx. 125 km², 8 by 15 km.

The region of Venray may be characterized as a mostly slightly rolling coversand area, lightly inclining from west to east. The at present mostly levelled Peel-area in the West has a height of approx. +30m NAP (Normal Amsterdam Level), while in the east the valley of the Meuse is at a height of approx. +13m NAP. The area is drained by a system of east-west running brooks. The most important are the Loobeek, Oostrumse beek and the Lollebeek, all discharging into the Meuse.

Geographically, the core region of Venray can be divided into three large units. From west to east these are the high moorland, the coversand area and the Meuse valley. The original moor terrain, coming into existence from the Allerød onwards, in all likelihood consisted of a diversity of pools, marshes and small sand ridges. The coversand area, the main part of the research area, was formed by aeolic processes in the early and late Dryas. It consists of a substrate of mainly lightly loamy sands, which may locally be highly loamy as well. To the east of the core region is the north-south running valley of the River Meuse. This is an area with a lot of relief, with river dunes, silted-up channels, terrace edges and backlands. It is a highly varied terrain with a wealth of small landscape elements.

Fig. 30 The major landscape elements of the core region of Venray, from west to east: the moorland of the Peel (brown), the coversand area (yellow) and the valley of the River Meuse (green)