Moriensart Castle

Moriensart Castle, locally known as Château-ferme de Moriensart, lies near the village of Céroux-Mousty, in the province of Brabant in the Wallonia region in Belgium.

The Romanesque keep of Moriensart Castle was probably built between 1216 and 1239 by Arnold Morel de Limal. He was a knight who was mentioned several times in documents related to the Duke of Brabant and served as bailiff of Nivelles from 1221 until 1229. During that period, the castle was called 'Morialsart'.

Renier II, Arnold's son, is recorded in 1245 as a vassal of Godefroid de Rixensart, likely his uncle. Renier V de Morialsart took part in the Battle of Worringen in 1288, fighting under the banner of Walhain.

The descendants of this family held Moriensart Castle successively until 1380, when Arnold de Morialsart mortgaged it to Gilles Vanderporten de Windeke. Later, the castle, by now called Moriensart, was transferred to Arnold van den Bossche in 1387. The Van den Bossche family owned it until 1440, after which it belonged to Louis Pinnock. In 1450, it was acquired by Lybrecht van Meldert.

In 1511, Moriensart Castle was purchased by Martin de Ferry, whose family kept it until 1569, when it was sold to the Le Vasseur family.

Through marriage in 1657, the castle came into the possession of the Coloma family, who crowned the square keep with a Gothic pyramid-shaped roof, decorated with three gabled dormers and four polygonal corner towers made of brick and limestone. In the 17th century, the castle comprised the keep and some outbuildings forming an open courtyard. These outbuildings were destroyed in a fire but rebuilt at the end of the 18th century.

In 1789, Moriensart Castle was acquired by the Van der Dilft family, whose descendants still own it today. During the 19th century, the outbuildings were enlarged, giving the castle its current appearance as a square castle farm with a keep in one corner. In 1950, the castle underwent significant restoration.

Today, the keep is privately inhabited and not open to the public, while the castle farm buildings serve as a conference center open to guests. Wow, that must be a great house; I would love to live in a tower like that.

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