CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · Places & Architecture

Houtain-le-Val Castle

castle in Wallonia

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 19, 2026
Entity authorityQ5916898 ↗
Source-derived summary

Houtain-le-Val Castle (French: Château de Houtain-le-Val) is a château in Houtain-le-Val, Wallonia, in the municipality of Genappe, Walloon Brabant, Belgium.

History

The first castle on the site is believed to have been built by Walter de Holton, first lord of Houtain, in 1129. When it was restored in 1850, two small towers were added.

Editorial summary

“Houtain-le-Val Castle” enters the record as castle in Wallonia. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Houtain-le-Val, Castle and castle can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA valuable geographic starting point for tracing changing names, boundaries, uses and administrative responsibility. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1129, 1850—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Houtain-le-Val, Castle and castle.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Houtain-le-Val Castle” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Houtain-le-Val, Castle and castle provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5916898. Authority coordinates are 50.581, 4.415. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1129 and 1850.

Critical limits

A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Houtain-le-Val Castle”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Houtain-le-Val Castle primary sources, Houtain-le-Val Castle archive and Houtain-le-Val research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Houtain-le-Val Castle”?
  2. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
  3. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Houtain-le-Val Castle” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.