As part of the public procurement opened by the Ministry of the Brussels Capital Region, the CReA Patrimoine of the Université libre de Bruxelles and the Royal Society of Archaeology of Brussels (SRAB) carried out archaeological research on the Place de Saint Job in Uccle. This was a preliminary intervention to the construction of a second stormwater tank under the square by Hydrobru/Vivaqua. It was carried out from April to June 2012 under the supervision of Sylvie Byl, Céline Devillers and Michel Fourny.
Ancient documents mention the presence of successive castles of the Lords of Carloo at the site of the current square. An excavation campaign was organised in 1998 by the Monuments and Sites Service (now DMS-MRBC) before the construction of a first stormwater tank. Carried out under the direction of Sylvianne Modrie (MRAH), this investigation made it possible to uncover the remains of castles from the 13th - 18th centuries.
The 2012 excavation mainly made it possible to complete the information already collected concerning the terrier plan of the disappeared castles of Carloo and their implementation. Indeed, a 66 m long wall has been cleared, dating back to the last phase of construction of the complex, undertaken around 1772 by Jean-Joseph-Philippe van der Noot.
A 1777 map shows the new - and last - Château de Carloo as a three-storey main building with a gable roof. The rear facade, facing west, has a front body topped by a triangular pediment. It is installed on a rectangular esplanade surrounded by a moat. The long wall cleared during the excavation corresponds to the southern front of the castral complex, on the edge of the moat. A thorough survey and follow-up of the demolition of the remains revealed the entire preserved wall facing with two bands of sandstone limestone and three layers of large blocks of ferruginous sandstone. The latter are marked with calibration marks relating to their dimensions in order to facilitate their installation. The stone foundations were built on a large massif of foundations combining fragments of brick and mortar, probably laid on a foundation slab made of wooden pieces. On the inside of the castle, the masonry integrates several brick blocks belonging to the previous phases.
The entrance to the courtyard of the castle was framed by two pavilions located on either side of the rural lane starting from the road to Charleroi; the southern pavilion was partly uncovered during the excavation.
The excavation was followed by the complete destruction of the remains by the contractor to allow the construction of the new stormwater tank.
Publications
BYL S., DEVILLERS C., FOURNY M., SOSNOWSKA Ph., 2013, Le château de Carloo : nouvelles fouilles préventives sous la place de Saint-Job à Uccle, Archaeologia Mediaevalis 36, p. 29-31.
BYL S., DEVILLERS C., FOURNY M., SOSNOWSKA P., Le château de Carloo : résultats des fouilles 2012 sous la place de Saint-Job à Uccle, Ucclensia/Bulletin d’information de la SRAB.
Fig. 1. The place de Saint-Job during the excavations.