Twickel Castle Estate – a unique piece of heritage
The Twickel Castle Estate is situated in the heart of a magnificent estate that stretches across five municipalities, owned and managed by an independent, private institution, The Twickel Foundation. Between 1347 -1953, Twickel was owned by a succession of families (Van Tickelo, Van Raesfelt, Van Wassenaer Obdam and Van Heeckeren van Wassenaer) until in 1953 the Foundation was established in by Baroness van Heeckeren van Wassenaer, the last private owner of Twickel.
The earliest drawings of Twickel show a Renaissance-style garden with apple and pear orchards, a bleaching green, a kitchen garden, a pleasure garden with pergolas and a system of canals. Later baroque, rococo and other influences can be seen in the park. Daniel Marot, who also worked at the royal palace of Het Loo in Apeldoorn for Stadholder-King William III, drew a series of designs for Twickel in around 1710.
J.D. Zocher jr (1791-1870) made significant improvements on the estate from 1830 to 1835, and gave the central section of the park its present form. C.E.A. Petzold, a German landscape architect, later extended Zocher’s landscape park between 1885 and1891, but retained much of Zocher’s original contribution to the estate park. By the end of the 19th century, the garden area surrounding the residence became a more formal part of the landscape design, which included the Orangery and the Rose Garden, designed by the British head gardener Rabjohn. The “rock garden”, or Victorian garden on the Twickel estate was created by its last resident and owner, M.A.M.A. Baroness of Heeckeren van Wassenaer who remained an ardent gardener until her death in 1975.
Restoration work on the landscape, based on design by Michael van Gessel, is currently underway.
Community activities
Twickel Castle is supported by a number of community groups, including the Friends of Twickel (about 1400 members) and by over one hundred volunteers from the local villages who lend a hand with maintenance jobs around the grounds and in the castle.
As part of the “My Place” project a range of activities took place on Easter Monday, to make local people aware of the important role Twickel Castle Estate plays within their community. There will also be a wide array of public events throughout the year [see Twickel Castle Estate].
The combined theme of the day is Easter/Spring in the park. Local poets and storytellers from different nationalities will share their thoughts on this theme with the visitors. People from various religious and ethnic backgrounds will be invited, including people from the local asylum seeker’s centre. Local dance groups will perform and for the children several activities are organised such as searching for Easter eggs. They will receive a little plant to take home with them as a souvenir.
Significance of Twickel Castle Estate in Europe:
By train/bus:
The earliest drawings of Twickel show a Renaissance-style garden with apple and pear orchards, a bleaching green, a kitchen garden, a pleasure garden with pergolas and a system of canals. Later baroque, rococo and other influences can be seen in the park. Daniel Marot, who also worked at the royal palace of Het Loo in Apeldoorn for Stadholder-King William III, drew a series of designs for Twickel in around 1710.
J.D. Zocher jr (1791-1870) made significant improvements on the estate from 1830 to 1835, and gave the central section of the park its present form. C.E.A. Petzold, a German landscape architect, later extended Zocher’s landscape park between 1885 and1891, but retained much of Zocher’s original contribution to the estate park. By the end of the 19th century, the garden area surrounding the residence became a more formal part of the landscape design, which included the Orangery and the Rose Garden, designed by the British head gardener Rabjohn. The “rock garden”, or Victorian garden on the Twickel estate was created by its last resident and owner, M.A.M.A. Baroness of Heeckeren van Wassenaer who remained an ardent gardener until her death in 1975.
Restoration work on the landscape, based on design by Michael van Gessel, is currently underway.
Community activities
Twickel Castle is supported by a number of community groups, including the Friends of Twickel (about 1400 members) and by over one hundred volunteers from the local villages who lend a hand with maintenance jobs around the grounds and in the castle.
As part of the “My Place” project a range of activities took place on Easter Monday, to make local people aware of the important role Twickel Castle Estate plays within their community. There will also be a wide array of public events throughout the year [see Twickel Castle Estate].
The combined theme of the day is Easter/Spring in the park. Local poets and storytellers from different nationalities will share their thoughts on this theme with the visitors. People from various religious and ethnic backgrounds will be invited, including people from the local asylum seeker’s centre. Local dance groups will perform and for the children several activities are organised such as searching for Easter eggs. They will receive a little plant to take home with them as a souvenir.
Significance of Twickel Castle Estate in Europe:
- The designer Daniel Marot (1661-1752) worked for Stadholder William III of Orange (King William III of England) at the royal palaces of Het Loo in the Netherlands and Hampton Court in England. Around 1710, Marot drew 8 designs for Twickel, one of which survives.
- Jan David Zocher, the younger (1791-1870) was the most eminent Dutch landscape gardener of the 19th century. Between 1830-1835 he was engaged at Twickel to lay out a naturalistic landscape park.
- Edouard Petzold (1815-1891). This important German landscape gardener was engaged at Twickel from 1885-1891, to extend and develop the naturalistic landscape that had been laid out by J.D. Zocher jr in 1830-1835.
- The Baroness van Heeckeren van Wassanaer was the last private owner of the estate and in 1953 she established the the Twickel Foundation that now owns and manages the site, a major European example of a private foundation established by a private owner to conserve and sustain the natural and cultural heritage of the property.
- For much of his career, Eduard Petzold was closely associated with the Mużakowski/Muskauer Park where he trained prior to 1834 and returned as the Director of Gardening between 1852 and 1881. At the end of his career, between 1885 and1891, Petzold was engaged at Twickel.
- Chiswick House and Gardens, in the 18th century, was one of the first places to be laid out in the English naturalistic style of landscape gardening. This style was a direct and strong influence on Prince Pückler and the Mużakowski/Muskauer Park and Pückler and his park were a strong influence on Petzold, and Petzold had a major influence on Twickel between 1885 and 1891
By train/bus:
- Every half hour train from Hengelo to Zutphen and vice versa. This train stops at Delden. 10 minutes walk from station to Twickel Castle
- Train station Helgelo: take traintaxi castle Twickel (7 km)
- From West - A1 take exit 28 direction Goor. Left to direction Hengelo. At Delden follow signs “Kasteel Twickel"
- From North or South – A35 exit 28 direction Delden. Follow signs “Kasteel Twickel”
Twickel Castle
Twickelerlaan 6
Ambt Delden
(Postbus 2 7490 AA Delden)
Tel (0031) (0) 74 376 10 20
Fax (0031) (0) 74 376 44 47
info@twickel.nl
