The Geleytsbeek in the Bourdon plain

You are currently on the Bourdon plain. Contrary to what one might think, this curious toponym does not directly refer to an insect, nor to a church bell! It is actually the inaccurate translation of the name of a hamlet called ‘Den Horzel’, which used to be located right here. While in Dutch, ‘Horzel’ can refer to another insect, the hornet, the toponym would rather refer to a low and wet meadow.

In front of you, passing under a small wooden bridge, you discover the Geleytsbeek. Since 2010, the stream has once again been flowing freely through the Bourdon plain! The quality of its water has greatly improved since the wastewater discharges that long polluted it were eliminated. On your right, in front of a wooden platform where you can sit, you notice that the stream bed has been intentionally widened. This is a small natural storm basin that fills with Geleytsbeek’s water during heavy rain, in order to prevent it from overflowing and flooding the plain.

The Geleytsbeek currently has its source in the Fond’Roy park. It then flows for 3 kilometers, entirely within the municipality of Uccle, before merging into the Zwartebeek, which itself flows into the Senne, the most important river in the Brussels Region. But it hasn’t always been like this! In the past, before a significant modification of its course, the Geleytsbeek directly merged with the Senne after crossing the municipality of Forest.

Already mentioned in the 12th century under the name ‘Glatbeke’, then ‘Gletbeke’, the name of the watercourse evolved to its present form: Geleytsbeek. But what does this hydronym mean? ‘Beek’ is a Flemish word meaning ‘stream’. It can also be found in the name of several Brussels municipalities, such as Molenbeek or Schaerbeek. As for the prefix ‘gla’ or ‘gle’, also of Germanic origin, it would mean ‘clear’ or ‘limpid’. Just like the water from the springs that we will discover during this walk!

Near you, just a few meters from the stream, you notice some recent apartment buildings. These were built on a site that was occupied, until the early 70s, by the brewery and water mill of the Château d’Or, as well as a beautiful bourgeois house dating from the late 17th century, which is also the origin of this toponym. Did the brewery source its water from nearby springs or directly from the stream to prepare its divine brews? We don’t know. As for the water mill of the Château d’Or, it served, among other things, the needs of the brewery, but also of a distillery. Until the 17th century, it was called the moulin de Groelst, a name whose origin we will discover at the next stop. The only remaining building from this era is the former café-guinguette of the Château d’Or, where beer and local gin were surely served! Transformed into a restaurant, you can see it displaying the inscription ‘Les Temps Modernes’ on its white wall, at the corner of the chaussée de Saint-Job and the Chaussé d’Alsemberg.

Now head towards the railway bridge to reach the Kinsendael nature reserve. After the Bourdon plain, the Geleytsbeek disappears from your sight to flow underground for 300m!

Coordination Senne-Coördinatie Zenne