De Wiersse
| De Wiersse | |
|---|---|
| Native name Landgoed de Wiersse (Dutch) | |
Location of De Wiersse in Netherlands | |
| Type | Country estate (buitenplaats) |
| Location | Wiersserallee 9, Vorden, Bronckhorst, Gelderland, Netherlands |
| Coordinates | 52°05′55″N 6°24′19″E / 52.09862°N 6.40541°ECoordinates: 52°05′55″N 6°24′19″E / 52.09862°N 6.40541°E Fatal error: The format of the coordinate could not be determined. Parsing failed. |
| Built | House rebuilt after 1678; earliest mention 1288 |
| Governing body | Stichting Landgoed de Wiersse |
| Official name: Historische buitenplaats De Wiersse | |
| Designated | 18 May 1999 |
| Reference no. | 509705 (complex) |
De Wiersse is a historic country estate (buitenplaats) near Vorden in the municipality of Bronckhorst, Gelderland, in the eastern Netherlands. The estate covers some 300 hectares and is known for its gardens, which combine formal early twentieth-century garden rooms with an eighteenth-century landscape park. The house is privately inhabited; the gardens are opened to visitors on set days during the season.[1][2]
History
The earliest documented mention of De Wiersse dates from 1288, when the abbess of the convent of Hoog-Elten recorded in a deed that an annual rent was to be paid on her house de Wedersche; the name evolved through spellings such as Wyrsche and Wyersche to the present form.[3] Cellars on the north side of the present house, and possibly some standing masonry, survive from an earlier building; the house itself was probably rebuilt after 1678, when the estate was acquired by Enno Matthias ten Broeck.[3][4]
The estate subsequently passed by descent until 1893, when the heiress Aurelia Carolina van Limburg Stirum married Victor de Stuers, the pioneer of Dutch state care for cultural heritage, who became owner of the estate in November of that year.[3] The house was restored in stages in the early twentieth century; in 1921–1925, under the direction of professor D.F. Slothouwer, the southern arm of the moat was reinstated, so that the house is once again fully moated.[3] De Stuers's daughter Alice de Stuers laid out the formal gardens from 1911 onwards; her future husband, the British major William Edward Gatacre, whom she married in 1926, gave structure to the surrounding landscape park between 1918 and 1925.[4][5]
The estate has remained in the care of the same family: it has been managed by successive generations since 1678, and in 2008 ownership was transferred to a charitable foundation, Stichting Landgoed de Wiersse, to secure its continuity. Since 2018 the estate has been run by Mary Gatacre and Aart Jonkers.[4]
Gardens
The gardens at De Wiersse comprise about 16 hectares of formal and wild gardens set within roughly 32 hectares of landscape park.[1] The layout preserves the recognisable structure of an eighteenth-century park, which acquired its present character, described in the national monument register as Italian–English in style, in the first half of the twentieth century.[6] Features include a sunken rose garden, formal parterres and hedged garden rooms, long vistas and avenues, water features fed by the Veengoot, and extensive plantings of rhododendrons.[1][7]
The gardens have been the subject of articles in the international gardening press, including Country Life in 1977 and 2015 and Gardens Illustrated in 2015, as well as in the Dutch national press.[5][1][7][8]
Heritage status
On 18 May 1999 De Wiersse was designated a protected historic country estate. The designation covers a complex of rijksmonumenten (national heritage sites), including the house (monument number 509704), the historic garden and park layout (509706) and numerous ancillary buildings and garden structures.[2][3][6] The register notes the house's significance for its age, architectural integrity and its position within the historic park layout.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 McGrath, James (21 January 2015). "Casting a spell". Country Life.
Photographs by Marianne Majerus
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Historische buitenplaats De Wiersse (complexnummer 509705)". Monumentenregister (in Nederlands). Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "Wiersserallee 9, 7251 LH te Vorden (monumentnummer 509704)". Monumentenregister (in Nederlands). Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Pers en geschiedenis". Landgoed de Wiersse (in Nederlands). Retrieved 24 August 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Gatacre, E.V. (25 August 1977). "Variety of vistas in Gelderland: the gardens of De Wiersse". Country Life.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "De Wiersse: historische tuin- en parkaanleg (monumentnummer 509706)". Rijksmonumenten.nl (in Nederlands). Retrieved 24 August 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Ronan, Frank (May 2015). "Making history". Gardens Illustrated.
- ↑ de Vos, Marjoleine (11 June 2007). "Tuinieren op De Wiersse". NRC Handelsblad (in Nederlands).
External links
Category:Rijksmonuments in Gelderland Category:Gardens in the Netherlands Category:Bronckhorst Category:Buildings and structures in Gelderland
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