Schansenroute in Westerlo

This cycling or walking tour takes you along fourteen entrenchments of Laakdal.
This is an initiative of the municipality of Hulshout, Herselt, Scherpenheuvel-Zichem, Tessenderlo, Laakdal and Westerlo, the local community associations and the IOED de Merode n.On the occasion of the Archaeology Days 2022.

What are entrenchments?
The Eighty Years' War (1568-1648) breaks out in the Merode region, the inhabitants take refuge in fortified towns or churches. Peasants who lived in a hamlet further away from such places of protection started to build their own entrenchments to protect themselves and their livestock from invading troops. A peasant entrenchment is a piece of land around which the community collectively built a rampart and wide moat. A drawbridge provided access to the entrenchment. Simple shelters were established on the entrenchment, as well as entrenchment houses. Life on the entrenchment was organized by entrenchment regulations; in times of emergency, one had to react immediately and discipline was a matter of life and death.

More information at https://www.cultuurenerfgoeddemerode.be/projects/archaeology-days-20-21-and-22-May-2022

Sources:
- Authors: Gustaaf Carens and Johan Verduyckt
- Jansen, J.E. Westerloo and the princely family de Merode, Turnhout, 1937.
- Jansen, O.P. Westerloo and the princely family de Merode, Turnhout, 1937.
- Heylen, A. Historische verhandeling over de Kempen, Turnhout, 1837.

📏 27.8 km
📍 Tourism Westerlo, Sint-Lambertusstraat 4, 2260 Westerlo
🏁 Tourism Westerlo, Sint-Lambertusstraat 4, 2260 Westerlo