The former manor house, Magerhorst, in Duiven, dates back to the early 15th century.Like many manor houses dating back to this period, Magerhorst started life as a fortified residence or fortified farmstead.Today, Magerhorst is a fully-restored farmhouse under private ownership.It even still has its medieval staircase tower.
Stronghold
Magerhorst is first mentioned in the historical records as a feudal estate belonging to Elten Abbey in around 1400. A plaque in the building’s facade reveals that the original fortified structure was turned into a manor house in 1549. But a print from 1742 still clearly shows the outline of the original stronghold. While the courtyard had been covered with a gabled roof, its moat and corner towers had been left intact, revealing the size of the medieval structure. Magerhorst burned down in the second half of the 18th century and was rebuilt as a farm. Today, only the tower at its entrance betrays the building’s original defensive purpose.
Machicolations
One particularly interesting aspect of Magerhorst’s tower is its retention of a rarely-preserved feature of medieval siege warfare called a machicolation. This is an opening in a defence structure from which stones or boiling oil could be dropped on enemies trying to attack the building. The word machicolation comes from the French word machicoulis, which itself is derived from the Latin maccare (crush) and collum (neck). This is exactly the effect that a machicolation would have on any enemies on the ground. In peacetime, machicolations were often used as toilets.
Ghosts
There is a local legend about Magerhorst which tells the story of an ancient, long-standing feud between the Lord of Magerhorst and the Lord of Ploen. One day, these two rivals decided to have a dual to the death at the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve. The local pastor tried to prevent the fight, but to no avail: the Lord of Magerhorst died on the spot, while his rival was severely wounded. Ploen Manor burned down shortly afterwards. The question people in the area still ask today, is whether Lord Ploen was punished by the ghost of Lord Magerhorst, or by the Holy Ghost for duelling on a sacred day?
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