Casteau ( wa, Castea) is a village of

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—al ...

and a district of the municipality of Soignies, located in the

province of Hainaut Hainaut (, also , , ; nl, Henegouwen ; wa, Hinnot; pcd, Hénau), historically also known as Heynowes in English, is a province of Wallonia and Belgium. To its south lies the French department of Nord, while within Belgium it borders (cloc ...

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 ...

. With the other villages Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies, Horrues, Naast, Neufvilles, Soignies (town), and Thieusies, they compose the municipality of Soignies. The village is located between the towns of

Mons Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...

and Soignies on the road

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. The river

Obrecheuil The Obrecheuil is a small river of Belgium, right tributary of the Haine. The spring is in the municipality of Le Rœulx. The river flows through the village of Thieusies, Casteau and ''St-Denis'', to end her trip in the village of Obourg where ...

flows through the village. In the past, there were some watermills along the river. * Postal code: 7061 * Province: Hainaut * Municipality: Soignies * Demonym: Castellois(e) * Elevation: 63 to 115 m (207 to 377 ft) * Area: 11,11 km² (4,3 square miles) * Time zone:

UTC+1 UTC+01:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +01:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+01:00. This time is used in: *Central European Time *West Africa Time *Western European Summer Time **B ...

Etymology

The name Casteau comes from the Latin word ''castellum'', meaning

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

History

Casteau was already known in neolithic times. A Roman cemetery from the times of

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good E ...

has been discovered. *1678: French soldiers destroyed the village during the Battle of Saint-Denis against the Dutch army of

William III of Orange William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from ...

. *1825: A part of the western plain became a

military camp A military camp or bivouac is a semi-permanent military base, for the lodging of an army. Camps are erected when a military force travels away from a major installation or fort during training or operations, and often have the form of large cam ...

for 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 ...

army until the

Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution (, ) was the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. T ...

in 1830. *1914: August 22, Captain Hornby was reputed to have become the first British soldier to kill a German soldier using his sword and Drummer Edward Thomas of C squadron, Royal Dragoon Guards was the first British soldier to fire a shot in the first skirmish between British and German troops of the First World War. This is commemorated by the

first shot memorial The first shot memorial is the common name of a monument in Casteau, Belgium, marking the first British engagement on the Western Front of the First World War. The monument stands near to the start of a charge made by elements of C Squadron of ...

in the village. *1940: German troops occupied the barracks until 1944. *1967: The

SHAPE A shape or figure is a graphical representation of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external surface, as opposed to other properties such as color, texture, or material type. A plane shape or plane figure is constrained to lie ...

(

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers in Europe Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the military headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) that commands all NATO operations worldwide. ACO's and SHAPE's commander is tit ...

) moved into the base. *1977: Casteau was merged with other villages to make the municipality of Soignies.

Landscape

The valley of the

is in the east of the village. This part of the valley is part of

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respecti ...

. The heart of the village is in the northwest higher part of the valley. The northwestern part of the village is a plain with dispersed houses and farms with typical hedges. The village is the border between the valley of The Haine (Elevation from 20 to 30m) and the plateau of Hainaut (elevation from 80 to 150 m). Around the village, there are several woods (comprising oaks,

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engl ...

es,

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrel ...

s, and

poplars ''Populus'' is a genus of 25–30 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar (), aspen, and cottonwood. The w ...

), fields (comprising

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Uni ...

es,

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet ('' Beta vulgaris''). Together ...

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

, and

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

), and prairies (for cows and horses). The ground is made of sands and silts.

Local speciality and collection

*Brewery and artisanal cheese called l'Augrenoise. *Bus collection

External links

* (in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

)
Website of the brewery Augrenoise
(in

)
Website of bus collection
(in

) {{coord, 50, 31, N, 4, 00, E, region:BE_type:city, display=title Former municipalities of Hainaut (province)