Castle Pereboomveld

Torhoutse Steenweg number 452. Castle known as "Pereboomveld" located in a spacious landscape garden is surrounded by a forest. Two long avenues connect it with the Torhoutse Steenweg. The castle and the park were established in phases. 17th century: mention of a hunting pavilion. 1835: according to the primitive cadastre plan, there was a house with an accompanying pleasure garden surrounded by parcels with heath and forest. 1852: expansion of the villa commissioned by owner Armand Marlier from Bruges. 1873: Séraphin van Troostenberghe - van Tyghem has the house expanded again. 1885: the new owner Polydore Siron constructs a walled vegetable garden with an orangery and greenhouse. 1889: at the behest of Célina de Serret, the castle is expanded. 1896: construction of the coach house. 1899 - 1903: the castle is remodeled and beautified at the request of the new owner Stanislas-Emmanuel van Outryve d'Ydewalle. 1932: expansion of the coach house. Neoclassical castle on an L-shaped floor plan on both sides with a terrace edged with natural stone baluster railing and crowning vases. Double house elevation. Five bays and two floors under a mansard roof covered with slates and featuring imposing chimneys and ornate wooden dormer windows. Plastered facades enlivened with neo-rococo elements. The façade is horizontally articulated by the interlinked dripstones, the cordons, and the heavy crown molding. Vertical articulation through pilasters with characteristic rococo stucco work with natural stone vases flanking the wooden dormer windows in their extension. The facades are open on the ground floor with rounded arched windows featuring mask-shaped keystones. Some of the lower windows are designed as door windows. On the first floor, rectangular wall openings enclosed in rounded-arched niches with the arch field equipped with rococo cartouches. The balustrade also features balusters. Preserved joinery with small divided lights. Interior. Characteristic floor plan with a central entrance in neo-rococo style leading to various salons. Salons accessible via double doors with preserved locks and closing mechanisms. Former neo-Flemish room according to doors with typical profiling at an angle, panelling. Adjacent two salons in neoclassical style. Adjacent neo-Flemish room with preserved interior elements. Chapel. A single-nave chapel built around 1900. Currently in a very dilapidated state. Slate gable roof set between two gable ends bordered with wide natural stone edging. Red brick facing with cement coating. Main façade opened with pointed arch door with chamfered daylight edges. At the various corners, there are buttresses. Interior. Wooden vault crafted on three sides. The walls are covered with glazed tiles probably from Torhout pottery. Decorated with a Mary monogram and stylized floral motifs. Floor with cement tiles with a simple pattern. Outbuilding on an octagonal floor plan. Conical roof with slates and raised lantern. Brick construction faced with rubble stone. Rhythmed by tree trunks. Small wall openings framed by tree trunks, finished in a triangular shape at the top. Park. The castle is located on a natural height, at the beginning of the slope, and has a central location concerning the surrounding park, which offered many possibilities for the concept of park design and layout in the then-prevalent (English) landscape style. The castle is often built on a slight elevation to further emphasize it as an attraction point. For this site, the natural topographical differences were used to achieve the same effect. From the cadastral research, we conclude that until halfway through the 19th century, the surrounding parcels of the then house had a varied use as "land", "orchard", "forest" and even "heath". The presence of heath can be interpreted as a remnant of the former fields that existed south of Bruges. Historical map documents confirm this for the location. In 1853, the forest to the west of the then house was modified and designated as "land". According to the topographic maps of the Military Geographical Institute (status 1861 and 1884), the access road was then located on the opposite side of the estate in the shape of an avenue leading from the west towards the castle. This was accessible from the Torhoutse Steenweg, via the avenues that run along the edge of the current castle estate, past the orangery and vegetable garden. In 1873, the separate parcels around the castle were united under one cadastral number designated as "pleasure garden and buildings". A few years later, the construction of an orangery and greenhouse was mentioned, as well as the enlargement of a house and for the first time a castle. Probably, the environment was changed along with the buildings and planted according to a park design, with an orangery and greenhouse as necessary facilities. On the topographic map of 1911 (published by ICM), the access to the castle on the western side is suppressed and runs according to the current situation. The main structures of the current park - roads, open grassy areas, forest, etc. - are also recognizable on this document. According to the current residents, no plans of the park layout have been preserved, and the possible garden designer is unknown. The main structures of the park consist of open grassy areas, closed wooded areas, and a few avenues around and in the castle estate itself. The winding and curved lines of these structures, and the road and path patterns, testify to the landscape style that was employed in this park. The strict and opaque boundaries of the open spaces with bushes combined with tall-stemmed trees, the grouped trees in grassy fields and the solitary "monumental" trees are characteristic of this style. The topography divides the park into two parts, namely the section between the access road and the Torhoutse Steenweg, and the higher flat area to the west of the castle. The first part is characterized by a sloping grassy surface, bordered on all sides by trees and bushes, where the boundary between open grassland and dense forest follows very winding lines. In this open area, and on the central sight axis from the castle, stands first a solitary and monumental oak (Quercus robur, circumference 3.31m). Further along this sightline lies the castle pond, which consists of an oval depression with a large island in the middle, on which a rhododendron mass grows. According to the current residents, there used to be a bridge to reach the little island; however, it has since disappeared, but the bridge foundations have been preserved. Around this pond stand a few summer oaks (Quercus robur), American oaks (Quercus rubra), some linden trees (Tilia), a maple with red leaves (Acer pseudoplatanus var. purpureum), Norway maple (Acer platanoides), and two bald cypress trees (Taxodium distichum, and Taxodium ascendens) near the bank. On the other side stand about three horse chestnuts (Aesculus L) and until a few years ago, there were some beeches that have since been blown down. A bit further from the pond stands a group of park trees and special varieties, namely three eastern arborvitae (Thuja orientalis), a summer lime with a special leaf shape (Tilia platyphyllos lasciniata), and a Chamaecyparis lawsoniana. The northernmost access road at Torhoutse Steenweg is formed by an avenue, with Thuja plicata and further with horse chestnuts (Aesculus), which marks the boundary of the historical estate. The other entrance is formed by an avenue of red beeches (Fagus sylvatica). Along the Torhoutse Steenweg, a wide strip of forest provides a solid buffer and visual boundary for the castle estate; here we encounter some American oaks (Quercus rubra), acacia (Robinia pseudoacacia), red beeches (Fagus sylvatica), linden trees (Tilia) and maples (Acer), as well as a remarkable weeping beech (Fagus sylvatica pendula). When we enter the estate via the northern access road and choose the left access road, we first encounter a large Dutch linden (Tilia vulgaris Europaea) that initially obstructs the view of the castle. To the left and right lies a wooded area with a large share of red beeches, oaks, horse chestnuts, and rhododendrons, where glimpses of the castle or the foreground grassy area are occasionally possible; once out of this forest, one looks at the side of the castle. Between this wooded area and the castle itself stand a few Japanese flowering cherries (Prunus serrulata). Further north of this access road lies a small hollow road leading to the former vegetable garden. This road is flanked by several very large and "monumental" sweet chestnut trees (Castanea sativa). To the south of the castle, several red beeches (3: Fagus sylvatica purpureum), summer oaks (3: Quercus robur), acacias (2: Robinia pseudoacacia), and a Fagus sylvatica aspenifolia, a giant silver fir (Abies grandis Nordmaniana), and two common silver firs (Abies alba) are located on the sloping hillside. Among them are some park ornaments such as vases and benches. To the west of the central access road is the somewhat more formal garden section in which a number of avenue structures are recognizable that actually all depart from the castle. The central avenue leads to the chapel, hidden a little further in the woods, hence the name "Kapelledreef". The start of this avenue is marked by some large sweet chestnuts (Castanea sativa, circumference about 4.50m) and further American oaks (Quercus rubra), together with rhododendrons. Left and right of it, more avenues run, including the Kerkeweg, which used to provide a sightline to the church of Zevenkerke. In front of the castle lies a small square, bordered on the right by a hedge of Laurier cherry with tall-stemmed trees behind it. To the left and right of the grassy area are not only deciduous trees but also a range of conifers: hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), acacia (Robinia pseudoacacia), cedar trees (Cedrus libani atlantica), larches (Larix), common spruce (Picea abies), etc. Towards the forest, the grass field is bordered by a hedge of laurel cherry. The avenues continue into the forest and consist, like the rest of the forest, of common beeches. The avenues themselves are only recognizable by the roads; the avenue trees do not differ in size from the other specimens as no such management is performed. The Kapelledreef forms the most central avenue, axed at the castle, and the connection with the chapel.

Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen