Vordenstein park

The Vordenstein domain was created in the 14th century out of the Hof ter Katen and the Hof van de Werve. At that time, the domain had a mainly agrarian function, with the feudal lord leasing patches of the land to various farmers. Starting in the 18th century, the domain gradually evolved into a recreational estate with a castle and an extensive pleasure garden, owned by a succession of wealthy families from Antwerp as a countryside retreat. In 1980 the majority of the park was eventually bought by the Belgian state, and subsequently opened to the public. A smaller part in the middle of the domain remains privately owned by the De Pret family that inherited the domain at the beginning of the 20th century. ^[1]

The majority of the present day layout stems from the 18th and 19th centuries. The oldest part of the park, the so-called Sterrenbos in the northeastern corner, was laid out in a baroque and geometrical fashion, inspired by the French gardens of Versailles. At the end of the 18th century, a forest in romantic style was planted in the middle of the park. The southwestern part of the domain was laid out in 1850 as an English landscape garden, with a pond, patches of trees and exotic plants. In the southeast lies the vegetable garden and the orangerie, which was built in the early 19th century, and is now used as a cafe. The forests in the northwest and the east were only planted at the end of the 19th century on what had been land used for farming. ^[2]