Tomp Tower

The Tomp Tower, locally known as simply the Tomp, lies in a wet forest near the village of Achel, in the province of Limburg in the Flemish region in Belgium.

Now, what about the Tomp Tower...

Until the 1990s, it was believed that the Tomp Tower was a round keep dating to around 1309. It was thought to have been built by a knight named Willem II van Boxtel. It was believed to have been besieged in 1365 and to have fallen into ruin in the 15th century, when its inhabitants moved to the nearby, newly built Grevenbroek Castle.

When the ruined tower was restored in 1968, it was reconstructed as a fortified tower.

However, people were not entirely sure of this history. In the 1990s, an investigation was launched. Through comparative research, it was ultimately concluded that Tomp Tower was never a fortified tower but actually a tower mill.

The current consensus is that it was a tower mill built in the first half of the 15th century by the Lords of Grevenbroek. It was damaged during a storm in 1596, but was later repaired. Before 1630, it was taken out of use, with its milling duties taken over by a newly constructed wooden post mill that burned down in 1800.

The Tomp Tower is accessible only on special days, but once the trees have shed their leaves, it can be seen from a public dirt road. It remains a curious tower nestled in a quiet woodland.

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