Fortification route in Laakdal
This cycling or walking tour takes you past fourteen farmsteads in Laakdal.
This is an initiative of the municipalities of Hulshout, Herselt, Scherpenheuvel-Zichem, Tessenderlo, Laakdal, and Westerlo, the local heritage associations, and the IOED de Merode, in connection with the 2022 Archaeology Days.
What are farm forts?
The Eighty Years' War (1568-1648) breaks out in the Merode area, and the inhabitants take refuge in fortified towns and churches, among other places. Farmers who lived in hamlets further away from such places of refuge built their own refuge or farm fort to protect themselves and their livestock from invading troops. A farm fort is a piece of land around which the community jointly built a rampart and a wide moat. A drawbridge provided access to the fort. Simple shelters were built on the fort, and fort houses were also constructed. Life on the fort was organized by fort regulations; in times of need, it was necessary to react immediately, and discipline was a matter of life and death.
More info via https://www.cultuurenerfgoeddemerode.be/projecten/archeologiedagen-20-21-en-22-mei-2022
Sources:
- Author: Glen Van Meeuwen
- Antwerp, State Archives, Notary Office Meerhout, 11593, Belmans, 1701-5.
- Antwerp, State Archives, G.A. Eindhout, old regime, 7.
- Antwerp, State Archives, Notary Office Meerhout, 11593, Belmans, 1704-2.
- Robben, M. "Schansen in Laakdal: Veerle en Varendonk": last accessed 16/02/2022, https://sites.google.com/site/schansenab/home/laakdal/veerle/varendonk/blaardonkvarendonk.
- Ceustermans, Raf. “Vorst: Hoogen en Laagen van Beden (1601-1660)”: last accessed 16/02/2022, https://www.lwgh-laakdal.be/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/HoogenenLaagenVorst_1601_1660.pdf.
- Hermans, J. "Schansen en hun eigenaars in Vorst" (Fortifications and their owners in Vorst), in Laakdalse Heemtijdingen, 1-4, (1993).
- Peeters, P. Simon Beckers: Notarial deeds 1654-1662, Averbode, 2018.
- Van Gehuchten, F. Veerle, Poor and proud. Laakdal, 1997.
📏 33.7 km
📍 Town hall, Markt 19, 2430 Laakdal
🏁 Town hall, Markt 19, 2430 Laakdal
