We are in the north of France, near the Belgian border. We are on our way to a large fortified building located in a small village. We’re not sure if the abandoned castle is accessible – our information refers to an exploration from a long time ago. Better not to attract attention or we risk blowing up the whole plan of action.
Luckily for us we park the cars and enter the abandoned castle with great ease. Everything is open. Nobody notices us.
The abandoned castle is empty but retains its rooms in all their original beauty. Built in the early 18th century, at the behest of Jean-François de Chassepot de Beaumont. Before being abandoned, the castle was sold in 1738 to François de Quellerie de Chanteraine who completed its reconstruction. Charles Hourdequin bought the villa in 1921; his niece, Christiane Vandenheede, who died in 2005, left the legacy to the apprentices Orphelins d’Auteuil.
We find an old forgotten sofa, who knows why, in a room near the stables: the only reminder of the extraordinary beauty of the furnishings. Leaving, we photograph the beautiful main gate, an extraordinary work of forged iron, today protected as a historical monument.
We visited this abandoned castle in 2016. In the following years it became a refuge for the homeless and due to a forgotten fire lit it was devastated by a fire in 2018 (it’s not the only one, see here). In June 2019 the building was put up for auction and restoration and recovery work began.
…to other abandoned castle click here
Lorenzo is one of the points of reference about the entire northern Italy. His passion for photography was born with a gift from his grandfather and very soon it diverted into urbex deep love.
