Westmalle Castle
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Westmalle Castle, is located in the village Westmalle, which is part of the municipality of Malle in the Campine region of Flanders, Belgium.
[edit] History
The origin of Westmalle Castle goed back to a large fortified farm, the Mansus de Trisco (Dutch: Hoeve Ten Driessche) around 1100 and it stayed that way until 1449. The farm was the residence of the representatives of the Dukes of Brabant.
In 1449 the estate was sold by the Duke of Brabant to Henri van der Moelen, who was a member of the city council of Antwerp. In 1505, his son knight Hendrik van der Moelen obtained all feudal rights from Philip I of Castile. His son Peter van der Moelen succeed him and it was his grandson, Evrard de Cottereau, who obtained the estate in 1530.
The estate went to the family De Cottereau through marriage, and it was Evrard de Cottereau who built the present castle in 1561. In 1695 the last of the Cottereaus was deeply indebted to his creditor, Pierre Farisau and later to his heir Filips Robijns. In 1702 the castle was claimed by the creditors, however the courts returned the property to lady Moytray, the widow of de Cottereau. In 1738, her brother inherited the castle an dsold it the the heirs of Filips Robijns who sold it again to Jacques Benoit Pauwens (Powis) in 1743, whose family resided in the castle until 1847. In 1829, Baron de Norman restored the castle. His children sold the castle to the Bovie family from Antwerp
Between 1848 and 1874 the castle was owned by an Antwerp diamond-dealer; Lord Bovie. He altered and restored the castle, and a garden was created by the landscape architect Koelich. From 1874 until 1878, the castle belonged to Louis Geelhand. Baron de Turck de Kersbeeck bought the castle in 1878, restored the building and parts were rebuilt by the architect Schadde. From 1914 until the present the castle is owned by the Van de Straeten-Waillet family.
