Bouvigne Castle

Bouvigne Castle, locally known as Kasteel Bouvigne, lies in a forest south of the city of Breda, in the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands.

Bouvigne Castle was first mentioned in 1554 as the property of a Jan van Brecht. It was described as a stately moated house. It had been built in 1548 by Jan to replace an older house. At that time it was called "Boeverie" or "Boeverijen" and was used as a farm. In the remainder of the 16th century the castle was enlarged until it got its present appearance.

In 1614 the castle was bought by Philip William, Prince of Orange. The Princes of Orange were never particularly interested in it and they mostly rented it out. This led to dilapidation of the castle, so much so that it was almost put up for demolition. In 1775 it was bought and subsequently restored by a Jan Daniel Engel.

A George Ruysch bought the castle in 1799. He carried out several alterations at the castle, replaced the gate building with the present one and Frenchified the name of the castle to Bouvigne, as was the custom in that time. In 1807 Ruysch sold the castle.

During the 19th century Bouvigne Castle passed through the hands of several families. In 1901 it was bought by a Leopold de Bruyn who laid out the present gardens. In 1930 the castle was acquired by the local municipality to prevent the building of several villas on the castle grounds. They rented the castle out to the catechists of the Pius X Society.

In 1971 the municipality sold Bouvigne Castle to the Brabant Delta water authority. They carried out a restoration of the castle and built a new office building on the grounds of the castle.

At present the domain of Bouvigne Castle can be visited for free during office hours. The interior of the castle and the gate building can not be visited, although the castle can be rented for wedding ceremonies. But together with the nice gardens, a visit to Bouvigne Castle is a nice pastime.

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