Landscape of Grand Pre Canada

Landscape of Grand Pre is situated in the southern Minas Basin of Nova Scotia, the Grand Pré marshland and archaeological sites constitute a cultural landscape bearing testimony to the development of agricultural farmland using dykes and the aboiteau wooden sluice system, started by the Acadians in the 17th century and further developed and maintained by the Planters and present-day inhabitants. Over 1,300 ha, the cultural landscape encompasses a large expanse of polder farmland and archaeological elements of the towns of Grand Pre and Hortonville, which were built by the Acadians and their successors. The landscape is an exceptional example of the adaptation of the first European settlers to the conditions of the North American Atlantic coast. The site – marked by one of the most extreme tidal ranges in the world, averaging 11.6 m – is also inscribed as a memorial to Acadian way of life and deportation, which started in 1755, known as the Grand Derangement.

Continent: North America

Country: Canada

Category: Cultural

Criterion: (V)(VI)

Date of Inscription: 2012

The Grand Pre 'marshland'

The Grand Pre 'marshland' and the remains of the associated old villages constitute a cultural landscape bearing testimony to a remarkable effort, over many centuries, using the polder technique to develop agricultural farmland, in a maritime location with extreme tides. In particular, it demonstrates the permanency of its hydraulic drainage system using dykes and aboiteaux and its agricultural use through a community-based management system established by the Acadians and then taken over by the Planters and their modern successors. Grand Pré is also testimony to the history of the Acadians in the 17th and 18th centuries and their deportation.

The Landscape of Grand Pre Church

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Vast wetlands

Grand Pre forms a vast area of polders or marshlands, in which the land division and crop farming methods have continued for three centuries. It is the most important example of its type in North America. The farming landscape is complemented by the strip land division method along the coastal area, bearing testimony to 17th century French colonization.

The hydraulic system is based on an exemplary ensemble of dykes, aboiteaux to evacuate the water, and a drainage network. These techniques and community-based management have continued through to today. The property includes archaeological remains of the villages of Grand Pre and Hortonville that testify to the settlements and lifestyles of the Acadian settlers and their successors.

The property and its landscape include traces of the major pathways that crossed the marshland and organized the adjacent coastal area. The locations of Grand Pré village and Horton Landing have memorial buildings and monuments erected in the 20th century in homage to the Acadian ancestors and their deportation, starting in 1755. The overall property forms the symbolic reference landscape for the Acadian memory and the main site for its commemoration.

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