Castle De Warande

Nr. 24. Formerly known as "De Warande," this castle was used as a holiday residence for a time and has been a town hall since 1979. It is located to the southwest of the village center, on the eastern slope of the Kemmelberg. The surrounding park features a wide variety of deciduous trees, including rowan, ash, maple, English oak, American oak, sweet chestnut, and beech... and has a pond fed by the Castle or Willebeek and the so-called "St. Laurentius spring," reportedly possessing medicinal powers against eye pain and burns. To the west and east, there are paved driveways; access gates between rectangular brick pillars. This Neo-Renaissance castle was constructed in 1925 under the direction of architects C. Pil & H. Carbon (Ostend) on behalf of Baron Jacques Bruneel de la Warande, the mayor of Kemmel, on the site of a hunting pavilion. An imposing castle with a U-shaped floor plan. Two building sections with a raised ground floor. Yellow brick construction with the use of bluestone for the base. Gabled roofs (slate) with ridge caps, dominated by round tower-like structures under a tent roof (slate) at the corners and in the junctions of the wings. An imitative interpretation of the regional Renaissance style, cf. well-crafted brick architecture with pilasters, on the other hand, cordoning relief dripstones and encircling cornices; furthermore, a three-sided bay window on the southeast side facade with a round-arched Marian niche on a console, risalites, roof windows, and chapels with inward-sloping eaves and finials, and profiled chimneys with small pilasters. Locally distinctive woodwork: cross and Gothic window frames with small pane divisions. The more elaborate front facade (east) consists of seven bays. Among other features, there is a staircase between a balustrade crowned by two lions with coats of arms respectively belonging to the Bruneel family and the de Montalembert family. Side facade (south): veranda with a basket arch arcade on fluted pilasters; a crowning terrace with linearly descending balustrade. Against the north facade: a former carriage house and stables overlooking a paved courtyard with an entrance gate flanked by octagonal towers. DIRIKEN P., Geographical Guide Heuvelland, Touristic-Recreational Atlas of West Flanders, (St.-Truiden), (1988), p. 69-70. Heuvelland in 8 - taken, I, 3.

Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen