Valduc Abbey (French : Abbaye de Valduc, Dutch : Abdij van Hertogendal) was a Cistercian monastery for nuns founded around 1232. It was located in Hamme-Mille, a district of the current Belgian municipality Beauvechain. Following the French Revolution it was secularised and in 1800 the buildings were sold off as building material and consequently demolished. In 1867 a brick château was erected on the spot of the former monastery.
The abbey was founded as a Cistercian monastery for nuns around 1232 by the Duke of Brabant, Henry II. [1] The abbey underwent several phases of reconstruction, expansion and crisis, but would eventually become quite a big establishment. [2] A time of particular activity was the 15th century. [1] By 1679, the abbey had expanded considerably and the entire village of Hamme-Mille was under its overlordship. [2] During the 18th century, the abbey suffered as a consequence of war and also internal strife. [3] By the later part of the century, it however was substantially rebuilt, probably to designs by Neoclassical architect Laurent-Benoît Dewez. [2]
Following the French Revolution and the ensuing French occupation of Brabant following the War of the First Coalition, the abbey was secularised in 1797. [1] In 1800, the buildings were sold off as building material and consequently demolished. [1] [2] Some of the subsidiary buildings, notably a farmstead (built in the second half of the 18th century) and a water mill (mentioned already in 1431) however remain. [1] On the grounds of the former monastery, a brick château was erected in 1867. It was commissioned by Pierre Craninx , Professor at the University of Leuven, and designed by Gérard Van der Linden in a Neo-Renaissance style. [1] [2]