Buitenplaats Westhove

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

HISTORICAL PARK AND GARDEN LAYOUT.

The Descriptio Zelandiae, a panoramic map from 1550, shows that a garden was laid out to the west of the castle with a rectangular basin containing a remarkably large fountain. Guicciardini also writes in 1582 about the fine Renaissance garden of Westhove. Presumably nothing of this Renaissance layout has been preserved. On the map of Oostkapelle dating from around 1750, made by the Brothers Hattinga, the northern part of the country estate, which lies behind the avenue running from east to west along the forecastle, has a division into ten sections with star, diamond and circle patterns within them.

The park and garden layout of the country estate currently consists of two different components. Near the moated section, some straight avenues remain from a presumably 17th-century geometric layout; these avenues were replanted in the 20th century, but they follow the old course of the avenues parallel to the different parts of the rectangular castle moat; thus the Wulpendreef, an avenue planted with native oak (B 20th century) to the east of the castle, leads from the Domburgseweg via the 18th-century wrought-iron gate (for a description of this gate see below) to the front of the forecastle; there the avenue continues northwards in the park in a straight line as a chestnut avenue (B 20th century); an avenue planted (B 20th century) with linden trees runs along the north side of the castle past the forecastle; along the western border of the country estate runs the nearly straight Duinvlietweg, planted with poplars and some chestnuts (B 20th century), towards the dunes on the north side. The castle moat is connected to the three-armed pond with winding banks to the north of the linden avenue.

In the landscape component, the pond - with the stone bridge located amid slightly undulating lawns, which are bordered by tree screens, and the island with the slight elevation in the centre, form the most important still intact remaining elements of the landscape style, which was presumably created by members of the Zocher family from the beginning of the 19th century onwards; the pond begins narrow, widens towards the north, and has three extensions with sight lines created along them, one from the moating at the forecastle towards the north, one even further to the north - almost at the end is located the stone bridge and one towards the northwest; in the extension towards the northwest lies the round, slightly raised island, over which and along two sight lines from the castle run; this extension leads to the western border of the country estate and the avenue present there. On the island now only stumps of felled trees, some conifers and a tame chestnut (A 20th century); the island is connected to the banks of the pond by wooden boardbridge walks; walking paths run along the northwest and east banks of the pond; the lawns are bordered by oaks (B 20th century) in screens; on the large lawn to the right as seen from the castle, a group of oaks, and two solitary trees, a linden and an oak, all trees B 20th century; some beeches (A 20th century) stand to the west of the island; a parcel of pines (B 20th century) is located to the east of the chestnut avenue, adjoined by birches.

The winding paths to the north of the pond presumably date from the beginning of the 19th century and have not been much altered; the winding paths to the east of the pond were presumably altered around 1900, part of the planting is still present; from the beginning of the pond at the forecastle, a rolling path leads first westwards to a nearby round grass area (presumably dating from the end of the 19th century) around which mainly linden trees (B 20th century) are planted and then leads over the island via the wooden boardbridges, and subsequently splits into a path that follows to the left roughly the north bank of the narrow pond extension towards the northwest corner of the country estate, and a path that follows to the right the western bank of the broad part of the pond; on the east side of the pond, a rolling path, initially unplanted along the large lawn and further on planted with oaks (A 20th century), leads from the stone bridge to the east border of the country estate, where the boundary lies with the historic country estate Berkenbosch; there the path turns further to the south and leads with a circular path around a group of four conifers (B 19th century), which are planted in a circle in the extreme southeast corner of the country estate (the circular path is already present on the Topographic and Military map from 1856), and then leads further southwards in the direction of the southern border, and from there leads back to the beginning of the linden avenue on the north side of the forecastle.

The historical value of the garden and park layout has as main components: the course of the 17th-century avenues near the castle moat, the early 19th-century winding pond with stone bridge and island, which is preserved in authentic form, as well as the northern winding paths from the time of the layout (early 19th century) and the winding paths in the eastern part with the planting from the early 20th century. Also the Manteling, which was laid out as a windbreak along the path at the northern border (in a westerly direction continuing to the built-up area of Domburg and in an easterly direction along the north side of the historic country estate Berkenbosch) is a unique and rare component.