Restoring Hougoumont

Any members of the GBG who have been giving tours around the Waterloo Battlefield will be saddened to see the gradual disintegration of the buildings at Hougoumont Farm. The farm was bought by the Intercommunale 1815 in 2003, and has been unoccupied since the widow of the last farmer left the site.  Walls are buckling as vegetation squeezes out from between the bricks, holes in the roof let the rainwater into the barns and gardener’s house, the roof beams bend under shifting weights. A world heritage site is threatened with ruin.

Fortunately, help is on the way.  The architects’ plans were put out to tender in the autumn of 2012 and a construction company has been nominated to take on the work once it has been rubber stamped by the Walloon authorities - probably in the  summer or autumn 2013.

The one bright spot inside the courtyard is the chapel that was restored with the help of the Soroptomists, a group of professional women who sponsor charitable projects in Belgium.

Unfortunately, however, the famous crucifix, the ‘miracle’ of Hougoumont,  was stolen from the chapel in 2011 and to date has not been found.

Funding for restoration of the fabric of the buildings will come from the Walloon Region Authorities of Belgium, but private funding has to be found to fit out the house and barns out for use by tourists and re-enactors.

Plans include making accommodation for a caretaker in one side of the gardener’s house, and an apartment on the other side for short lets to people who want to explore the battlefield at their leisure.   Their rents will help to pay for the upkeep of the farm in future. Plans for the barns include a room for a model of the battlefield, a library/study room for visitors, and a room for conferences and meetings. As in the past, Hougoumont will be a centre for re-enactors who bivouac in the orchard.

Our Belgian committee has been very successful in raising €200,000 in corporate donations in 2012 with promise of  more to come.  Our UK Committee has also raised funds by targeting corporations, foundations and individuals. The Chosen Men campaign has almost 350 members who have given more than £20,000 so far, and pledged double that by 2015. Any guides who would like to join the Chosen Men would be most welcome. Our website is www.projecthougoumont. com.

We hope that by 2015 Hougoumont will be fully restored and an iconic spot where you will be able to tell your clients the tale of the closing of the gates and quote Wellington’s famous remark that ‘the outcome of the battle of Waterloo turned on the closing of the gates at Hougoumont’.