Skip to content

Castle and natural heritage

Château de Wagnée is nestled in the middle of a beautiful park that reminds of the English parks that were in vogue in the late nineteenth century. Careful agricultural and aesthetic management, as well as forestry and hunting have, over generations, created a rural landscape where woods, meadows, crops and water blend harmoniously. Brooks, ponds, hedges, ancient trees, old walls and paths provide the prime habitat for many species such as barn owls, woodpeckers, deaf adders, purple emperors, autumn crocuses and woodland geraniums. Through careful landscape management, we aim to maintain this balance and increase the natural richness of the site. That way, the common midwife toad will continue to spice up the Wagnée nights for many years to come.

HISTORY

1611
Originally, only a tower surrounded by water dominated the lordship of Wagnée. In 1611, Jean de Berlo Brus, spouse of Marguerite d'Eynatten, built a vast quadrilateral building with four towers, encompassing the original tower (the ‘high court’) that leaned against the ‘yard’. The lordship then passed, through weddings and alliances, into the hands of the Poittiers and then the Helmstadt.
1768
1768
In 1768, Antoine Lamquet bought the building from Count Blackard of Helmstadt. Since about 1300, the lordship was passed on to the descendants of Guillaume de Houtain. Philippe-Antoine, the father of Antoine Lamquet, came from Glymes in Brabant. He came from a family of farmers but made his fortune by transporting various goods. He developed, among other things, land routes that were less expensive than waterway transport of the ‘derle’ (a type of clay) to the United Provinces of the Netherlands.
1769
When Antoine Lamquet died in 1769, the lordship passed into the hands of Henri Lamquet, Mayor of Namur. Henri's daughter, Julie, married to Casimir de Modave de Masogne and inherited Château de Wagnée.
1804
It was Casimir de Modave who replanted the large avenue of linden trees in 1804. Henriette, the daughter of Casimir and Julie de Modave, married Baron Maurice du Pont d'Ahérée. The castle underwent considerable transformations during the first half of the nineteenth century: the southern part of the quadrilateral building was torn down and a rotunda was added on the northern façade.
End of XIXème century
Félix du Pont d'Ahérée, son of Maurice and Henriette, added a ‘gallery’ on the southern façade of the building. The entire ground floor was now used as a vast winter garden with orange trees, water basins and fish. Félix d'Ahérée had many artistic talents and decorated the house with multiple painted ceramics that make the castle so special today. He married Aloyse Geelhand who brought with her some Antwerp spirit. The property passed to their daughters Maria and Jeanne. Jeanne married Count Alphonse van der Stegen de Schrieck.
1872
1960
Their son and daughter-in-law, Jean-Marie and Gaëtane, born Baroness van der Straten Waillet, carried out restoration works in 1960. They made the castle habitable for their family with six children. On this occasion, they tore down the east wing and the gallery.
1960
2016
In October 2016, Joseph van der Stegen, one of the sons, and Ariane Waucquez, his future wife, began in-depth redevelopment of the castle to house a holiday accommodation in it. Over the centuries, Château de Wagnée underwent multiple, sometimes surprising, modifications. But thanks to its adaptation to the needs of different eras, the castle still prevails today.
2016