The city of Antwerp part 3: the inclusion of the suburbs

The development of Antwerp gained pace during the 13th century with many merchants flocking to the city with its easily accessible wharf and new harbour of St Pietersvliet. The growth of Antwerp coincided with the increasing territory, wealth and might of the Dukes of Brabant. At the end of the thirteenth century plans are drawn to expand the city of Antwerp even further. The aim of this plan was to include many of the suburbs and religious institutions extra muros within the confines of the city. Expanding the area within the city walls also meant that more people would count as residents, making the settlement a larger city, but also increased the potential revenue for the city council.

From 1291 onwards a waterside wall was erected along the wharfs of the Scheldt river. The direct result of this expansion was that the inner burg was no longer the stronghold for the residents of Antwerp. The area was also far too small to accommodate all the people so it was logical that it would be transformed into part of the city. In 1298 work starts directly south of the Abbey of St Michael where a new moat is dug and a wall is built. A large area of fields and gardens were incorporated into the city area. The moat was dug towards the Hospital of St Elisabeth, but passed directly north of the existing Courts Beguinages following a natural depression in the landscape. As digging the new outer moat proved costly, technically difficult as a result of it cutting through high ground, and time consuming to build. To keep the defences in order a wall was proposed linking the outer moat at Klapdorp and the moat at the Hospital. In 1314 the new city gates are completed, together with several defensive towers (Verlorenkosttoren, Huidevetterstoren, Visverkoperstoren,  Backerstoren and Jan Blauwbaardtoren to name a few). The completion of the outer moat and the further outward expansion of the city starts in 1317 and would take until 1415. Although these works are part of the same plan they are most commonly seen as two separate expansions of the city of Antwerp (numbers 3 and four to be precise).

With the erection of the new city walls the surface area of the city increased threefold from 46 ha to 156 ha. The area within the new outer moat was much bigger increasing the urban area to over 200 ha. The original city measured only 20 ha. Expansion 3 consisted of a new wall (shown in red) and parts of a new moat. Later the defensive structure was completed by excavating an entire moat and erecting a new section of wall (shown in orange) alongside it. The finished city defences comprised of 4 towers, 7 land gates and 7 water gates. The structure started with the Kostverlorentoren (T1) in the south near the Scheldt and continued to the Vingerling (T4) via Kronenburgpoort (P1), Begijenhol (P2), St Jorispoort (P3), Blauwtoren (T2), Huidevetterstoren (T3), Buiten Kipdorppoort (P4), Rodepoort (P5), Slijkpoort (P6) and Posternepoort (P7). Along the river gates were made in the wall to give access to the wharfs: Westpoort (p1), Bierpoort (p2), Maaigatpoort (p3), Sandersgat (p4), Houtwerfpoort (p5), Scheldekenspoort (p6) and Hooipoort (p7). At some distance to guard the dam in the Schijn river a sconce (S) was erected.

This time there was no clear structure in naming the sections of the new encircling moat. This is probably due to their separate excavation. Excavation started in the south up to the Blauwtoren (Blue Tower). This work was later repeated in the low lying area north of the city to form a new harbour Brouwersvliet (literally: Brewers Fleet) and a new moat up to the much older Falconrui that follows part of an old Schijn-river arm. The section of moat dug trhrough higher ground was known as vest and was, like the rest of the outer moat, subdivided in to several separately named sections.

The sections of the outer moat were named after their position near a pre-existing building or settlement, or after their use. Kronenburgvest (1) was named after the defensive structure of the Abbey called Kronenburg. The Begijnenvest (2) was named after the Courts Beguinages (Begijnhof) directly next to it. The Sint Jorisvest (3) named after the Church of St George. The Kipdorpvest (4) was named after the suburb of Kipdorp. The Ankerrui (5) alludes to the use as an anchoring place for flat boats. The origins of the name of the Oude Leeuwenrui (6) is unclear. The Brouwersvliet (7) was named for the brewing houses near it. After completion of the new defences the land behind it was used for fields, market gardens and orchards. The names are often a hint at the most common form of land use there: Blijdenhoek (B), Gasthuisbeemden (G), Hopland (H), Ramenveld (R), Hoogveld (Hv), Kauwenberg (K) and Falconbroek (F).

Much of the area within the new wall or later the new outer moat and outer new wall remains undeveloped for many years giving the area outside the city limits of 1290 a village-like atmosphere with working farms and market gardens. All the markets and official buildings were located within the vesten and ruien. Here the streets and markets had all been cobbled by 1320. Building work on the gothic Cathedral Church of Our Lady started in 1351 and would last until 1521. It is situated on an oval church freedom, as is usual. Much of the area around it remained undeveloped until around 1400. The filling in of the areas between the incorporated suburbs and institutions would start in earnest at the end of the 15th century. This marks the start of Antwerp's so-called Golden Age, that lasted from 1490 until 1565.

As a riverside city, the development of Antwerp was only possible by several technical interventions into the drainage system. By damming the Schijn river a controlled flow of water could be redirected towards the city moat. This Damme (D) sits next to Dambrugge (DB). A new dyke (d) was raised north of the existing polder Steenborgerweert (Sbw) linking two older polders and making the area in between suitable for agriculture. The floodplain across the city was also empoldered by raising a dyke around what was hence known as the Borgerweertpolder (B).On the former mud flats and along the moats quays were constructed: Berdenerwerf (Q1), Wharf (Q2), Haring Staple (Q3), Meekaai (Q4) Werf (Q5), Maaigatkaai (Q6) and Hout- en Hooikaai (Q7). To improve the water supply for the inhabitants and brewers a new canal was dug from the Schijn river in Deurne to the city edge. This canal was known as the Herentalse Vaart (HV) and was dug between 1486  and 1491. This canal connected to the Oude Vaart or Vuilrui (V) completed in 1490 and the Meirrui (M) completed in 1431.