Ampsen

Hamlet in Gelderland, Netherlands

52°10′N 6°25′E / 52.167°N 6.417°E / 52.167; 6.417Country

NetherlandsProvince

GelderlandMunicipality

LochemVillageExelElevation

^[1]

12.6 m (41.3 ft)Population

(2020)^[2]

• Totalc. 80Time zoneUTC+1 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)Postcode

7241

Area code0573

Ampsen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɑmp.sə(n)]) is an estate, castle, and hamlet in the municipality of Lochem in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. Administratively, it is part of the village of Exel.

History

In the year 1105, an 'Ulricus de Amsene' is mentioned as a witness in a spurious charter.^[3] From this mention one deduces that an Ampsen estate must have already existed at that time. There were two estates called Ampsen: Ouden-Ampsen ('Old Ampsen') and Nieuwen-Ampsen ('New Ampsen'). Ouden-Ampsen was a fief of the dukes of Guelders and has been mentioned as such in the fief registers of the Zutphen quarter since 1379. It was already a fortified house around that time because in 1389 its owner promised not to harm the Duke of Gelre and his subordinates from this house. Nieuwen-Ampsen was located next to Ouden-Ampsen and was an allodial estate until it was also made a Guelders fief in 1650. Both Ampsen houses were destroyed during the Spanish period by the Spaniards in 1605.

Gerrit Jan van Nagell had the current house built around 1650. However, it is not known whether he chose a completely new place for this, or whether he used the location of the old house.

Shortly after 1754, the house was expanded by Johan Herman Sigismund van Nagell: a new wing was added to the right of the L-shaped building, creating a U-shape. The castle moat around the house was filled in.

Today there is a farm with that name and a partly moated castle island near the spot where Oud-Ampsen once stood, but between this farm and the current castle, there is another Nieuwen-Ampsen farm. The castle and estate are still privately owned today.

Gallery

Castle from the middle of the estate
Northwestern part of the castle
Southeastern part of the castle
'Green Room', interior

References

^ "Postcodetool for 7241NG". Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
^ "Ampsen". Plaatsengids.nl (in Dutch). 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
^ Oorkondenboek van Utrecht tot 1301. Amsterdam: Huygens Institute for the History of the Netherlands. pp. 251–252. Retrieved 8 September 2023.

Bibliography

Harenberg, J.; Thomassen, J. (1999). Eens bolwerk van de adel: kastelen en landhuizen in de Achterhoek en Liemers (in Dutch). Alphen aan de Rijn: Canaletto/Repro Holland. ISBN 9789064697487.