Grote Paal - border post Keerbergen-Rijmenam

Big Pole

18th-century border post, on the border of Keerbergen with Rijmenam. The "Great Pole" dates from 1773.

At the time of Maria Theresa, the poor sandy soils of the Rhyme heath were planted with pines and other tree species. In 1753, Maria Theresa authorized the sale of these lands. Between Rijmenam and Keerbergen there were repeated disputes about property rights. In 1773, the boundary between the two municipalities was definitively established by mutual agreement: the boundary was straightened between the two "Kleine Palen" (see Brughoevestraat and Grote Paalstraat) that Keerbergen had already placed in 1744. In the middle of this line Rijmenam placed the "Grote Paal", a bluestone boundary post of 1.30 m above the ground; the pole bears the coat of arms of Count Frans Corneel Gislenus Cuypers, last lord of Rijmenam, and the inscription "Pagus de Rymenam finibus suis pegundis e contractu posuit anno MDCCLXXIII" (The municipality of Rijmenam erected this pole on the border established by an agreement in the year 1773).

Bart Denayer