Fernelmont Castle, Medieval castle in Noville-les-Bois, Belgium.
Fernelmont Castle is a brick château-ferme built around a square courtyard, with a 13th-century keep and a west wing flanked by two windowless semi-circular turrets. A Tuscan gallery of four round arches on monolithic columns was added in 1621. The whole is surrounded by ponds, and the window frames, quoins and gallery are in blue stone.
Fernelmont is first mentioned in 1269, when the younger son of the Noville family received the wasteland to establish a domain and built a keep and a wooden farm. The domain passed to the Longchamps family in the early 15th century and to the Marbais by marriage in the mid-16th century; they built the present residential building in the 16th century. Sold to the Barwitz in 1618, it was bought by the Harscamp in 1709, who added an oak staircase in the south wing in 1766 and a star-patterned courtyard pavement in 1767. Abandoned after 1805, it was restored from 1986.
The castle represents a Walloon tradition of fortified farmhouses that combined daily agricultural work with defensive needs, a common approach in the region. The layout reveals how domestic and protective functions operated together within the same stone structure.
The castle stands in Noville-les-Bois, in the municipality of Fernelmont, Namur province, surrounded by ponds that can be viewed from the outside. Since 2007 the owner has held a ten-day international contemporary art exhibition each June, so a visit in that month coincides with the event.
The star-patterned paving of the inner courtyard dates from 1767, laid during the works of François-Pontian d'Harscamp, who also left the oak staircase in the south wing, dated 1766. The brick walls are framed by blue-stone quoins and window surrounds, and a Tuscan gallery with four round arches on monolithic columns was added in 1621 where a stair turret once stood.
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