Model of a Batavian Coastal Telegraph

Batavian coastal telegraph. Model, c. 1799. Between 1798 and 1803 a chain of 63 coastal telegraphs were positioned along the Dutch shore. When in August 1799 British troops were about to land on the Dutch coast, the government in The Hague was kept informed and ready to act. The central nerve of the coastal network was at Seinpostduin in Scheveningen, near the seat of government. The coastal telegraph was about 20 metre high. Signals were relayed with the indicators on the crossbars from one post to the next, at regular eight-kilometre intervals.