Sunken Lane

Photographer: Frank Raeymaekers
Summary Author: Frank Raeymaekers

The photo above shows a scenic sunken lane near Kasterlee, Belgium. A sunken lane is a road or path that’s obviously lower than the ground on either side. They’re typically created by erosion; water flow and or the wear and tear of traffic. In the incipient stages of the sunken lane featured here, heavy rain produced a ditch that has widened over a period of decades. Farmers utilized this low area as a passage way for horse and cart and cattle traffic. Eventually, trees and shrubs were able to take hold on the lane’s talus slopes. Some sunken lanes are well suited as battlefield strongholds, such as the Sunken Road or "Bloody Lane" at Antietam/Sharpsburg during the American Civil War.

This sunken lane, also referred to as a holloway, is more or less parallel to the Nete River. Another holloway, perpendicular to this one, leads straight to the river. Photo taken on the afternoon of December 29, 2008.