The best walks and hikes around Landen

The mill is known by several names, including Jeancour Mill, Janshoven Mill, and Grégoire Mill. Take a walk to the building, even if the mill itself is unused. You'll see the stream meandering beautifully, the buildings are all worth a visit, and you can greet the goats and other horses. It's worth the detour.

Tuff stone building, almost entirely constructed during the second half of the 13th century; massive tower, three naves of three bays each, and a rectangular choir flanked by sacristies. A closed tower with three stories, later fitted with strong corner buttresses; an inaccessible ground floor, covered with ribbed vaults featuring a beautiful keystone with a relief depicting the Paschal lamb; the upper floors are accessible via stairs in the east and south walls. The nave is connected to the aisles by distinctive round arches, the profile of which continues uniformly down to the floor; small, off-axis basket-arch windows under the flat ceiling. The aisles were rebuilt in 1925 on the foundations of the earlier ones, which were destroyed at the end of the 18th century; a Neo-Romanesque entrance portal. A two-bay deep choir in Gothic style, on a rectangular plan similar to that of Walsbets, with five simple two- or three-light windows. Restoration by architect Dehaies in 1925 (facade stone in the choir). Furniture. Two paintings in the choir (17th or 18th century); on the south side altar, a folkloric statue of Saint Amand (17th century). Block altar of sandstone decorated with geometric motifs, supposedly Merovingian but probably from the 10th century (?), baptismal font in Romanesque tradition (13th or 14th century). Inventory of Immovable Heritage: Parish Church of Saint Amand, https://id.erfgoed.net/erfgoedobjecten/43469

Also visible is the private driveway that begins on Wezerenstraat, near the former municipal school and teacher's residence. It is enclosed by a gate and can be seen between the photos.

There wasn't much to be found about this farm, but enough to warrant a comment. Because I think it's worth a highlight. One of the things that immediately stands out is that there's a chapel next to it. And thanks to the Lourdes Grotten website, we know who maintains it, that it's being renovated bit by bit, and that you can light a novena candle there—but you could find out for yourself. More at https://lourdesgrotten.com/2016/08/03/landen-wezeren-wezerenstraat-rechts-van-huis-nr-335-3-8-16/comment-page-1/ And what about the farm itself? That turned out to be a different story, even though it's still the most interesting one to me. Well, we know it's the Vandevelde enclosed square farm, and we know this because its ground plan was used as an illustration of "the enclosed square farm" in the extensive publication "Proud of the Farm from Here - Historical Farms in South Hageland" by the Center for Agricultural History at https://www.rlzh.be/assets/afbeeldingen/rl-zuidhageland/Publicaties/Fier%20op%20de%20hoeve%20van%20hier%20-%20Wetenschappelijk%20rapport.pdf This same drawing is also mentioned in other documents and reports. And then there's a thesis, "Analysis of the Development and Differentiation of the Landscape Along the Belgian Language Border. Case Study: Haspengouw: Landen and Hannut," which includes a photo of the farm gate, confirming its identity. Details about its history are always welcome. The farm at this address is registered to a farmer named Vandevelde. However, the previously mentioned record about the chapel lists a different name. Still, it seems highly unlikely that the chapel and farm are separate, as they are located next to each other with no adjacent buildings. And more importantly, the stone is identical.

On Bortombestraat (intersection with Wezerenstraat): a wayside chapel on a small plot with a seating and picnic area (separated by Bortombestraat). About the chapel itself: https://www.odis.be/hercules/toonOBJ.php?taalcode=nl&id=8969 The chapel is also mentioned by the Flanders Heritage Agency as the starting point of the cobblestone road that crosses Wezerenstraat and runs to Hoeve Janshoven, known as Cl. Gregoirestraat. It is a protected cultural-historical road; see https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjecten/307687

Neo-Gothic chapel restored in 2000 within a walled enclosure. The reliefs in the niches of the enclosure wall – presumably the fourteen Stations of the Cross – and the pinnacle that originally crowned the gable have disappeared. Historic part of "Hoeve Janshoven with gentlemen's farm park" - see https://www.komoot.com/nl-nl/highlight/7245422 Inventory of Immovable Heritage: Hoeve Janshoven with gentlemen's farm park, https://id.erfgoed.net/erfgoedobjecten/200244

A closed farm complex from the 18th century, with a wing converted into a manor house in 1844, surrounded by a manor-like farm park typical of Haspengouw, approximately 2 hectares, laid out around 1860. To the east is a neo-Gothic chapel within a walled plot. Janshoven, on the border of Walbets and Weser, was first mentioned in 1248. Two figurative maps in the map book of 't Park Abbey, drawn up by Joris Sibil in 1656 and 1663 respectively, provide the oldest depictions. On the 1656 map, Janshoven is also called "Chantrain Farm." Chantraine near Jodoigne was a commandery of the Order of Malta – originally the Knights Hospitaller of St. John (hence Janshoeve) – dependent on the commandery at the castle of the Duke of Brabant on Keizersberg in Leuven. At the start of the Primitive Land Registry in 1831, Janshoven, along with 34 hectares of land, belonged to Michel Orban from Grivegnée near Liège. This may well have been Joseph-Michel Orban himself, one of the godfathers of the Industrial Revolution in Belgium, who was the first to install a steam engine in a coal mine in 1811. The farmstead was surrounded by an orchard, a field, a garden plot, and two ponds. The watermill ("moulin à farine") 100 meters downstream the Zeven Bronsbeek stream, referred to as the "molen van chantryn" (Chantryn Mill) on the 1663 land tax map, was also part of the property. In 1857, Janshoven was sold to Clément Grégoire, who also settled in Janshoven as a gentleman farmer. Inventory of Immovable Heritage: Janshoven Farm with a small farm, https://id.erfgoed.net/erfgoedobjecten/200244

The exterior of the church has been renovated. It looks more recent than before, but it looks beautiful, and I finally have some photos of the interior.