Swalmen first appears in the writings of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Silent witnesses from the early past are still visible, such as the ruins of the Ouborg, once a castle with a keep and a curtain wall. It’s the only octagonal donjon, or inner keep, in the Netherlands.
The two estate farms, the Oudenhof and the Nieuwenhof, also date from the Middle Ages. Archaeologists suspect that a knight or horseman may have lived here because several bone remains from horses, a lot of oat production and horseshoes, which were forged by a blacksmith on the property, have been found. Grain was probably stored in a large rectangular building in the yard. The yard is probably part of a larger noble farm complex or a so-called curtis. In 1225 the site was abandoned and used as arable land. The hollow wagon tracks that can still be seen in the landscape probably date from the mediaeval period of settlement.
PLEASE NOTE: The location of the spear is near Emmaus in Swalmen. At the junction of the cycling and walking path towards the ruins of the Auborgh and Emmaus.
TIP: This location is part of Ode-aan-de-Maas
Find also other Archeo Route Limburg locations