Heritage walk in Boechout

The starting point is boechout station, on the Antwerp-Lier line. From the station, head towards the level crossing and then turn left into Heuvelstraat. After barely 100 meters you will see on the left the beautiful Heuvelhof, town hall since 1973. Walk a little further to the right into the Janssenlei. The Janssenlei is a fine example of a villa allotment from the beginning of the twentieth century and is protected as a landscape. Return to your steps and walk right before the town hall into Selbstraat.

Cross the busy Provinciesteenweg, cross the Gillegomstraat immediately to the left and turn right into the Schransstraat. On the left you see the Groenhof, another beautiful stately country house. Walk 150 meters further left into the Kwakkelstraat and immediately turn right on a paved gravel road. The Kwakkelstraat briefly becomes a narrow path between the grass and then gravel road again and connects to the Sombekestraat. Continue for 350 meters at the T-junction to the left on the concrete track. On the right you have the Grensscheidingsbeek. On the water, mallards forage and with a bit of luck you can see a kingfisher. The landscape here is green, open and quiet.

At the end of the street you can see on the right the walled Spokenhof or Labistratenhof, dating from 1610 and from 1926 to 1959 the home of tone poet Jef Van Hoof. Cross (carefully) the Borsbeeksesteenweg, turn left and immediately right into Veldkant. Turn left and then straight on until you reach Hof Van Reyen, now banquet hall, but for about 250 years, until 1928, Brewery De Kroon. Leave the Oudebaan and go straight on the cobblestone track. Soon you will be walking under the N10 and along the railway line. Where a road sign indicates zone 30 and turns the lane away from the railway, you go right through the pedestrian and cyclist tunnel under the railway line. After the tunnel, walk straight along the Oudesteenweg and after 400 meters, right across house number 3, turn left into the Bessemstraat. The Koudebeek runs on the right. The area is very rural and a treecreeper flutters among the many pollard willows.

After 300 meters, ignore a turn right and turn left until you reach Welvaartstraat. Go left and immediately right into Fruithoflaan. Here you will soon see on the left the Castle Fruithof, a rococo building from 1928, now a restaurant. Walk right across the football field on the left into the Sportveldlaan. At the end of the avenue, which here is called Baron Carolylaan, you have the Appelkanthof on the left behind an iron gate, another country house from ca. 1900. Walk straight ahead into Heuvelstraat and then right into Lange Kroonstraat. Which brings you to the Protestant Evangelical church. Cross the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-van-den-Vredeplein and go straight ahead in the Van Colenstraat. Soon you will be at the imposing Sint-Bavokerk, a largely neo-Gothic cruciform basilica. A little further on the right you have Café California and restaurant Cosmo and on the corner Café Falco, buildings from around the turn of the last century and, like other houses in the village, belonging to the immovable heritage of Boechout.

Cross the Hovesteenweg and walk on the Jef Van Hoofplein past the municipal library and the monument of Jef Van Hoof. At the end turn right in the Groene Stap to the Steenen Molen, a top crawler from 1782. Now return to the church and walk to the right in front of the church. Against the church façade you can see the monument to Jan Frans Willems, founder of the Willemsfonds. Walk past the church and the Gildenhuis Sint-Bavo on the left into the Pastoorleiken and after 150 meters on the asphalt track to the left into the park. You leave the park at the old town hall. Turn right and at the T-junction turn right again into Jan Frans Willemsstraat. Right opposite house number 34 you choose the Pastoorleiken again on the left. This brings you to the Spoorweglei, where you turn left, after a few hundred meters, back at the station.