In classical style and dating in part from the 17th century, the majestic castle of Monceau-sur-Sambre is surrounded by a magnificent 165 acres park, one of the jewels in the heritage of the Charleroi country.

Designed in the French style during Louis XIV’s reign, the estate was subsequently refurbished to create an English garden look featuring a riot of plant life. The oldest plantings include a group of five ash trees (Fraxinus excelsior monophylla), unique in Belgium. “Gnarl” is the botanical term for the swelling that is seen on certain parts of their trunks, a defect that appears as they grow.

A male dogwood (Cornus mas) is remarkable because of its isolation, its one-metre circumference and its branches which have a span of ten metres in diameter.

Not far from the dogwood, with a circumference of 5.20m, stands a magnificent red oak (Quercus rubra) which is special in that it is grafted onto a common or pedunculate oak.

Also worth an admiring glance are another oak, the pedonculate oak (Quercus robur) and the five Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris) which stand out from among the other trees in the vicinity.

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