GORINCHEM – Near the De Hoop mill, between the Dalemsedijk and the Merwede in Gorinchem, there are remains of the castle of the Lords of Arkel found. In 1977, remains of the castle were found on the other side of the dike. Until now, it was always assumed that the Lords of Arkel had a small castle. The new discovery shows that the castle is much larger than was always assumed.
Rubble and wall anchor from collapsed walls.
The remains of the castle were discovered during the excavations that the polder district Tieler- en Culemborgerwaarden is having carried out at the dike. A coin hunter, Ton Wijkamp from Gorinchem, was looking for coins with a metal detector when he suddenly came across the remains of walls. "I immediately understood that those walls had to be from the castle", says Wijkamp. The 'treasure hunter' then called Martin Veen, an amateur archaeologist who was previously involved in the excavations on the other side of the dike. "These discoveries shed new light on the castle", says Veen.
Maps
"We can now gain more insight into what the castle looked like. No one knows because there are no more maps of it. Incidentally, it may take a while before we know. We first have to list all the finds.” Veen, together with city archaeologist Pieter Floore, is now busy mapping the remains of the walls. Furthermore, they are actively searching for remains of pottery and the like. The polder district has made a grave machine available for this purpose.
The castle was probably built between 1267 and 1290 by the Van Arkel family, who were also in charge of Gorinchem at the time. In 1412 it was demolished again on the orders of William of Bavaria, the then count of Holland. This happened after the Arkel War. This battle was initially fought between the lord of the castle, Jan van Arkel, and his son Willem van Arkel, who had promised the citizens of Gorinchem to defend the city against his father.
War
The ensuing war ended badly for both, especially since the powerful Count of Holland, Willem van Beieren, attempted to incorporate the area of the Lords of Arkel into Holland during the discord. In order to keep their heads above water, both warring parties had to ask Duke Reinald van Gelre to become their liege lord. The laughing third party, however, was Count Willem. He had by then built up a good relationship with the duke who in 1409 forced the Lords of Arkel to sell their area, including the castle, to Willem. From that moment on, the Land of Arkel was permanently incorporated into the County of Holland.
In 1412 William had the castle demolished. The reason for this remains unclear to this day.
Willem destroyed a lot of knowledge for posterity. In the coming time, there will probably be more clarity about this turbulent period in the history of the Arkelstad.
by Arjan de Heer
August 26, 1996
The Dordrecht resident