Kasteel Twickel

Twickel is an estate of around four thousand hectares in Twente that has been held as a single property since the fourteenth century and passed by inheritance, never divided - which in the Netherlands, where land was parcelled and reparcelled endlessly, is very unusual. It went into a foundation in 1953. The house is a moated sixteenth-century block with later wings, and it is still lived in, so interiors open only on a handful of guided dates. What is open is the estate: formal gardens, an English park, a walled kitchen garden, an orangery and a landscape of woodland, farmland and about a hundred and fifty tenant farms - all of which have their shutters painted in the estate's black and white livery, so driving through Twente you can tell Twickel land at a glance. That visible ownership pattern is the thing worth noticing.

What you actually see

• One holding since the 1300s - four thousand hectares never divided.
• Estate livery on the farms - black and white shutters marking Twickel land.
• Formal and landscape gardens - parterres, walled kitchen garden and orangery.
• A moated sixteenth-century house - lived in, opened only on a few dates.

When to go

April to October. A day.

Honest expectations

The house interior opens on very few dates and books out - most visitors see gardens and estate only. Gardens are seasonal and closed in winter. The tenant farms are private homes and land.

Nearby

Delden is beside the estate; Hengelo and Enschede are east.