The castle Croy is a castle in the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

province

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the w ...

, near the village

Aarle-Rixtel Aarle-Rixtel is a village in the Dutch municipality of Laarbeek in North Brabant. It lies about 4 km north of Helmond. Since the municipal reorganization of 1968 the castle Croy is part of Aarle-Rixtel. History Aarle was first mentioned ...

which is part of the municipality of

Laarbeek Laarbeek () is a municipality located in the province of North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands. It was formed in 1997 from the former municipalities Beek en Donk, Aarle-Rixtel and Lieshout (which included the village Mariahout). Laarbeek ...

. From 1642 until 1968 Croy belonged to the municipality Stiphout (currently part of the municipality of Helmond). The castle is currently no longer inhabited but in use as an office.
Since 1795

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

is brewed near the castle. Since 2004 the Croy beer is itself had been brewed in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

but the ingredients are grown on the Croy estate. The destruction of the restaurant by fire in 2006 brought with it the opportunity to restore the tradition of brewing beer on the Croy estate. With the renovation of the nearby restaurant "de Croyse Hoeve" the microbrewery was built and with it the production has returned to Aarle-Rixtel. Due to environmental restrictions the beer is still bottled and packaged in Belgium. Also there is a herd of Rambouillet-

Merino The Merino is a breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monopoly; exports of the bree ...

sheep on the Croy estate.

History

The oldest parts of the Croy castle were probably built in the 15th century. There is not much known about the history of the castle. ,

Bishop of Cambrai The Archdiocese of Cambrai ( la, Archdiocesis Cameracensis; French: ''Archidiocèse de Cambrai'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France, comprising the arrondissements of Avesnes-sur-Help ...

was in 1477 owner of the land, but a house is not mentioned. In the 16th century villages in the neighbourhood were many times demolished, probably also the castle (but this is not recorded). The last inhabitant was Freule (Lady) Constance van der Brugghen. Her uncle bought Croy in 1772, In 1773 he died and left the castle to his half brother Johan Karel Gideon. He married Margaretha Gertuda Falck and they had three sons and a daughter. In 1820, 1826 and 1864 the sons died. Freule (Lady) Constance van der Brugghen died in 1873 (78 years old) and left the building to municipality of Stiphout with the obligation to use the building for the help of poor elderly people. This was led by the sisters of Geloof, Hoop en Liefde (Faith, Hope and Love). In 1977 the house was disapproved as being a house for elderly people because of safety regulations. Research of the castle points that the size was more or less the same all those years. The building history seems complex but not much is known from written sources. It seems that the original building has been severely damaged. The cellar, the right wing and the round tower are probably from the beginning of the construction. The last changes e.g. the entrance and the

Crow-stepped gable A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in ...

were built in the 18th century.
Many noble families have lived in the castle.

References

*Kransber, D. & H. Mils, ''Kastelengids van Nederland, middeleeuwen'', Bussem 1979 () *Kalkwiek, K.A., A.I.J.M. Schellart, H.P.H. Jansen & P.W. Geudeke, ''Atlas van de Nederlandse kastelen'', Alphen aan den Rijn 1980 () *Helsdingen, H.W. van, ''Gids voor de Nederlandse kastelen en buitenplaatsen'', Amsterdam 1966 *Tromp, H.M.J., ''Kijk op kastelen'' Amsterdam 1979 ()

External links

* {{commons category-inline
Croy castle (Dutch)
Castles in North Brabant Rijksmonuments in North Brabant Laarbeek

History

See also

References

External links