Vliet Castle

Vliet Castle, locally known as Huis te Vliet, lies near the village of Oudewater, in the province of Utrecht in the Netherlands.

West of the village of Oudewater, in the Vlietpolder, on the southern bank of the Hollandsche IJssel river stands the simple remnant of Vliet Castle. The 9.5 meter high ruin is a part of the north face of a keep.

Vliet Castle was founded at the end of the 13th century. The founder probably was Gerrit van den Vliet, brother of Herman VI of Woerden, who was involved in the murder of Count Floris V. Because of that, Herman and his family were banned. But because Gerrit had played no part in the murder, he reconciled with Floris' successor; Count Willem II, who returned his possessions around Oudewater. Gerrit died in 1314.

In 1497 the then owner; Jan van Vliet, asked permission to Philips de Schone to relocate his prisoners in the surrounding cities. It's unknown if this was because of the bad condition of the castle or because the castle was being converted into a comfortable manor. Until 1624 the castle remained in the hands of the Van Woerden van Vliet family.

Nothing is known about the structural history of Vliet castle. Also how and when the castle fell into ruins isn't known. But according to the drawing below, made by R. Roghman around 1647, the castle was already a ruin then. In the history of Oudewater and the surrounding lands the castle isn't mentioned. Recently, during the building of a shed by the nearby farmer, remains of the bailey were discovered. In 1770 the keep and the bailey were still surrounded by a complete moat.

A simple castle ruin. It is situated on private farmland and therefore not accessible.

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