The Peerdsbos is a forest and nature domain situated in the Belgian municipalities of Brasschaat and

Schoten Schoten () is a Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in Antwerp Province, Belgium. The municipality only comprises the town of Schoten proper. As of 1 January 2020 Schoten has a total population of 34,311. The total area is which gi ...

, to the north of the city of

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

. The domain largely consists of forests and directly borders the Vordenstein domain in Schoten to the south-east, and the Brasschaat municipal park to the northwest.

History

The Peerdsbos is the oldest known forest domain in the present-day

province of Antwerp Antwerp Province (; ; ; ), between 1815 and 1830 known as Central Brabant ( , , ), is the northernmost province both of the Flemish Region, also called Flanders, and of Belgium. It borders on the North Brabant province of the Netherlands to the ...

. Historically, the forest formed a part of the ''Bremdonk'' domain, which contained acres, meadows and forests used for logging and was donated to the

Sint-Elisabeth hospital by Isabella of Breda in 1280. During the following centuries the hospital used the rents earned by leasing the property to finance its operations. Until recently, the domain was still property of the

Public Centre for Social Welfare The Public Centre for Social Welfare (, ''OCMW''; , ''CPAS''; , ''ÖSHZ'') is a public institution that exists in each of the 581 municipalities of Belgium. Every citizen of Belgium has the right to social assistance and social integration. Examp ...

. In the course of time, large parts of the original domain were sold and parceled out. Also, Brasschaat mayors Van Havre and Reussens bought parts of the Peerdsbos domain in the 19th century to create the community park of Brasschaat. On 1 July 1936, the city of Antwerp leased the domain for the symbolic price of 1

Belgian franc The Belgian franc was the currency of the Kingdom of Belgium from 1832 until 2002 when the euro was introduced. It was subdivided into 100 subunits, each known as a in Dutch, or in French and German. History The ''gulden'' (guilder) of 20 ''st ...

per year, and for a duration of 99 years. As a counterprestation, the city was obliged to open the domain for the general public as a recreational place. The city became thus responsible for the maintenance and exploitation of the forest and all non sub-leased buildings. In the 1950s, planning began for the construction of the European route E19 highway connecting Antwerp with

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

and

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. In the original trajectory, the highway would be built straight through the middle of the Peerdsbos forest. Later however, alternatives where proposed where the forest was largely avoided. Eventually, it was decided to construct the highway at the southern border of the domain. The final opening took place in 1971. In 2008, Flemish minister for the Environment and Nature Hilde Crevits signed, as a representative of the

Flemish government The Flemish Government ( ) is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region of Belgium. It consists of a government cabinet, headed by the Minister-President of Flanders, Minister-President and accountable to the Flemish Par ...

, the purchasing act of the domain. The maintenance of the domain is now provided by the Agency for Nature and Forests. Today the Peerdsbos domain consists of about 148 ha (1.48 km²) of dense forest, with a few open fields in between.

Facilities

Several facilities can be found in or near the Peerdsbos, such as a sporting centre, an indoor swimming pool a centre of the Antwerp Community Schools, used for school trips and for special education. a minigolf, a playground and a brasserie.

References

{{Reflist

External links

www.natuurenbos.be/peerdsbos
the Peerdsbos on the website of the Agency for Nature and Forests. Forests of Belgium Geography of Antwerp Province Schoten Brasschaat