The Meetjesland in the north of East-Flanders, Belgium

Our Meetjesland: Kerkbrugge-Langerbrugge

The "Ten Boekel" Estate was originally a fief of the Saint Bavo Abbey of Ghent. The first known owner was B. Van Der Spiegele, a patrician from Ghent. He used it as his Summer residence. In the 14th Century it came into the hands of the Borluut family, another patrician family also from Ghent.

The estate received its name when in 1585 Philipotte Borluut married Joos Borluut, knight and lord of Saint-Denis-Boekel. The castle retained its Mediaeval character even after the 18th Century adaptations and the great restoration of 1895. Now though it looks terribly forlorn. Window panes are missing here and there and it badly needs seeing to. There is also the servants quarters, the 1787 house chapel and the dove tower.

Chateau "Heylweghen" or the "Ter Beken" Estate is named for the Burggraven River (a "beek" or "beke" is a river) that runs past the estate. A 1379 document mentions the estate as an agricultural settlement belonging to a Mr. Jan van der Woestinen. In 1545 it was sold to Louis van Heylweghen, a member of the Flanders Council and that is how it got its name. In 1749 it was acquired by the Borluut family of Noortdonck.

They gave the chateau its current look in 1780. In 1836 it became the property of the Groverman family of Ghent. They donated the land for and ordered the construction of the convent and the chapel of the Sisters of Notre Dame Visitation. In the 20th Century the domain came into the hands of the Maertens-de Maenhout family, their inlaws and then Youth Education, a non-profit organisation.

A picture from inside
the Langerbrugge church.

Industrialisation came to the west of the Canal in 1911 when an electrical power station was built in Langerbrugge. Kerkbrugge-Langerbrugge is now administratively a part of Evergem.

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