Hof van Twickel

A hof is a Dutch word with several meanings, among them a courtyard, a garden and a noble town house with grounds, and it appears in the names of many historic buildings in towns that were home to the landed gentry. Zutphen, a Hanseatic town on the river IJssel in Gelderland, has a number of such houses. In the late Middle Ages and the early modern period, noble families of the surrounding countryside kept town residences in Zutphen, where they could stay in winter, attend the courts and councils and take part in civic life, and some of these hofs survive among the streets of the old town. The Hof van Twickel is named after a family with large estates in the east of the Netherlands, though the details of this particular building are not well documented, so what follows describes the type of place and its setting.

The Twickel name is best known from the great estate at Delden, in the Twente region, where a moated castle stands in extensive grounds and has belonged to the same family line for centuries. Estates of this kind were centres of local power, with farms, mills and woodland, and their owners were important figures in the provincial assemblies. A town house for such a family was a sign of status as well as a convenience. It would have a fine street front in brick and stone, a courtyard, stables and often a walled garden at the back.

Hofs of this kind are typically arranged around an open court or garden, with the main house at one side and service buildings around. Their gardens were laid out in formal patterns in the seventeenth century, with hedges, paths and fruit trees, and later reshaped in a more natural style, and some survive as small oases in the middle of the town. They are often hidden behind high walls and gates, so that a glimpse through an archway or a doorway can come as a surprise. Because many are privately owned or used as offices, access is limited, and the best approach is to enjoy the exteriors and any public gardens, and to check at the tourist office.

Zutphen offers a good deal of interest around such a visit. The Walburgiskerk with its chained library, the old gates and walls, the botanical garden and the regional museum are all within reach on foot, and the river promenade gives views of the IJssel. The Twickel estate itself, near Delden, can be visited as a separate excursion.

The hof suits history and architecture lovers and anyone who likes to explore a town's hidden courtyards. A visit takes half an hour, and Zutphen is reached by train from Arnhem.