The Gardens of Hougoumont Project
Restore, Share, Revive
A place of history transformed into a space for the future
The Hougoumont site is one of the key locations of the Battle of Waterloo (1815), but it is also an 18th-century refined and well-structured agricultural estate. Before being ravaged by the fighting, it consisted of:
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A manor house and agricultural buildings,
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A chapel,
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A French formal garden,
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A vegetable garden,
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And three carefully enclosed orchards.
During the battle, this site was the scene of a decisive and extremely violent confrontation: more than 15,000 soldiers fought in a confined space, and about 5,000 of them were killed or wounded. After the fighting, the gardens and orchards disappeared and were never restored.
Today, this project aims to bring these lost spaces back to life, transforming them into a living place of memory, nature, education, and peace.
The concrete objectives of the project
1. To recreate the historic gardens under the direction of the renowned belgian landscape architect François Goffinet
The project will include:
• The reconstruction of the French formal garden in its elegant original form.
• The re-creation of the historic vegetable garden with 18th-century planting techniques.
• The replanting of the iconic large orchard in its original symmetrical layout.
2. To create an educational and ecological biosphere
• To welcome schools and families, and also social and scientific organizations.
• To offer educational workshops on biodiversity, gardening and climate.
• To serve as a living laboratory for traditional and novel plant species.
•.To allow pioneering gardeners to experiment with sustainable and climate-resilient crops.
• The intention is that the visitor should experience a unique combination of the drama of military history, the beauty of traditional gardens and an introduction to modern ecology using a live plant laboratory.
3. To encourage community participation
The project includes:
• Partnerships with horticultural schools and university faculties together with charitable organizations.
• Inclusive initiatives involving vulnerable communities.
• Registration with The King Baudouin Foundation to ensure full compliancy with local charity laws and the transparent use of funds.
Please consider making a donation towards the restoration of this iconic site and its novel ecological approach.
Hougoumont played a pivotal role in the Battle of Waterloo but prior to 1815 it had been an elegant country house with a well-run agricultural estate.
Before its destruction it had consisted of:
-
A manor house and agricultural buildings
-
A chapel
-
A formal French garden,
-
A vegetable garden
-
And three carefully enclosed orchards.
What was unique at Hougoumont was that the battle started here and that the fighting raged throughout the day. There were seven attacks by a total of over 14.000 French soldiers and some 12.000 Allied troops were rotated to the defence of the farm and the surrounding area. Despite these enormous numbers, the battle was fought in a very constricted space in the intense heat and smoke of burning buildings and at the end, over 5,000 soldiers lay dead or wounded.
Both the gardens and orchards had been utterly destroyed. They have remained featureless fields and meadows ever since.
Today, our project aims to bring these lost spaces back to life, and to transform them into a living symbol of the sacrifices of the past and the aspirations of the future.
A mission of remembrance and peace:
Recreating the gardens of Hougoumont is not only about restoring and replanting:
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It also intends to turn a former battlefield into a place of learning and reconciliation.
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It will offer us a space to reflect on the past and our hopes for a more sustainable future.
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It will touch on nature and culture, war and peace, and heritage and innovation.