Château Frischermont, or Fichermont, was demolished in 1965. Because it was off the Siborne model and was destroyed, there is very little evidence to go on. This post attempts to piece together the available clues.
In 1705 the Château was for a time the headquarters of the Duke of Marlborough. While at Frischermont Marlborough wrote that the escarpment of Mont-Saint-Jean would be a good place to defend Brussels if it was attacked from the south.
At the time of Waterloo it belonged to Monsieur Beaulieu, and was garrisoned by troops of the 28th Regiment, Orange-Nassau (Regiment Oranje-Nassau No. 28) under the command of Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar.
It was here at 10:30 that as a French patrol drove back Dutch pickets the first fighting of the day took place. Frischermont sat southeast of la Haye Farm and Papelotte.
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| This aerial photograph from the late 60s was taken after the chateau was demolished. It shows the walled garden and, if you look very carefully, the well just to its right. |
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| Colourised version |
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| I'm inclined to discount the evidence of this picture which adds a house on the left. I feel this is an addition to a previous picture which already adds something that could not be seen (the Lion's Mound) from this location. |
Excellent detective work!
ReplyDeleteMany thanks to both of you, it was fun piecing the evidence together.
DeleteI have been following your blog for some time, and am very impressed with the project. I have visited the area twice, spending 10 days walking the battlefield with my wife, so have many happy memories of the area. But your project is a completely different scale. What a useful source of information to anyone interested in the battle or area in general. When you have finished your project you should write a book as a permanent source of information for the future.
ReplyDeleteI have been a Napoleonic wargamer for well over 50 years and have always had a particular interest in Waterloo. I have seen a number of dioramas, but have never had an opportunity to see one in development before. It has, and is, facinating.
I can only admire your dedication, self discipline and determination.
best regards
Paul
Thank you so much Paul, your comments are great for morale!
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for this. It has been very useful for my own Waterloo project.
ReplyDeleteI have always struggled to understand the layout from the photograph with the later mansion built on the site of the demolished tower. Which are the buildings in the background and to the right? Any thoughts would be welcome.
My view is that the later Neo Gothic mansion (F) sat on the North side of the complex - this is because the greenhouse is attached to its West side and greenhouses usually face West to catch the afternoon sun. This means that the other building in the NeoGothic picture lines the East side of the complex (ie the side adjacent to the north-south road). The building that you can just see in the other photograph (G) must be on the Northside.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I should add that I don't think the Neo-gothic mansion was built on the site of the demolished tower. The tower was at the southeast corner and the mansion was in the north. My suspicion is that the mansion was built half a century (+) after the tower was destroyed.
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