Historische aanleg, Middenweg bij 72

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

HISTORIC GARDEN AND PARK LAYOUT.

The history of the park layout of Frankendael goes back to 1695, when Isaac Balde purchased a farmstead located in the corner of the Grote Tochtsloot and Middenweg dating from around 1660 and had the current main building built there. Of the rectangular moated courtyard laid out at this time, the course of the boundary is still entirely present, although the semi-circular protrusion in the axis of the house on the SW side received an irregular profile at the beginning of the 19th century, when a landscape-style layout came into being at Frankendael. In 1770 the sculptural group with river gods, Arion and shell-shaped basin by the hand of Ignatius van Logteren was placed at the moat on the NE side of the house, of which the shell-shaped basin stands in compositional relation with the aforementioned original protrusion. Also, directly opposite the basin, the NE side of the moat was excavated into a mirror-shaped arch, as can still be seen to this day.

The moated courtyard was surrounded by a tree alley probably running on four sides (in single arrangement; present-day linden trees 19th century or older). The alley along the Middenweg still exists, although some linden trees are missing and a cycle path has been laid out between the rows. The southeastern tree alley has been preserved in part as a line and was connected at the beginning of the 19th century with the rectangular plot situated to the southwest of the courtyard. The northwestern tree alley extends to halfway along the latter plot. On this plot, at the beginning of the 19th century, a park in landscape style was laid out with an irregular pattern of walking paths and earthwork features. From this layout, the irregular banks on the SW side remain, which were perhaps intended as a 'Swiss feature'. For the rest, it is unclear to what extent the layout of winding paths in this park section, where a heritage garden is now located, still dates from this time. At this time, a landscape-style layout also came into being on the courtyard. Open spaces were created in front of and behind the house, which were surrounded on both sides by tree and shrub plantings. Of these, fine solitary beeches, chestnuts and oaks remain on the NW side of the house around the forecourt and to the southwest of the house some chestnuts, linden trees and oaks. The layout of the rectangular lawn behind the house with rhododendrons on both sides and rose borders on the SW side is of more recent date.

The courtyard with the plot situated to the southwest of it forms the centre of the layout of Frankendael, which from the beginning of the 19th century extended considerably further in a northwestern direction. Thus the long green zone between the Middenweg and the extension of the northeastern moat arm, the layout of which with oaks and chestnuts planted in irregular arrangement dates from the 19th century, has also belonged to the layout of Frankendael since this time. Also the water feature to the west of the courtyard was laid out at the beginning of the 19th century; the bank profile of this feature was perhaps somewhat modified in the course of the 19th or 20th century. On a small hill in the western corner of this layout, which is surrounded by nurseries and which thereby became isolated from the courtyard, a hermitage was built in the first half of the 19th century.