Building located at Condette, the castle of Hardelot is a manor house remodeled in the 19th century in the neo Tudor style, on foundations from the first half of the 13th century.
The first castle at this site was built in the 12th century by the Counts of Boulogne. The curtain walls date back to that time. The present castle was built by Philip I, Count of Boulogne and son of Philip II of France, in 1222. He also built Boulogne-sur-Mer Castle to a rather similiar plan; a more or less circular castle with projecting circular towers but no keep.
In 1848 Hardelot Castle was bought by the Englishman Sir John Hare. He rebuilt one of the best remaining towers into a Tudor-style mansion. Large receptions were given here and the writer Charles Dickens, a friend of Hare, often visited the castle.
Located on the edge of the regional nature reserve of the Condette marsh, near the forest and the dunes of Ecault, it now houses the Cultural Center of the Entente Cordiale, managed by the Department of Pas-de-Calais. The rooms of the castle are fully furnished and retrace the tumultuous relations between France and Great Britain.
Kakesbeck is one of the largest medieval fortifications in Münsterland and the oldest castle in Lüdinghausen. The imposingly grown complex originated in 1120 as a motte, a small hilltop tower castle. After numerous changes of ownership, the castle was extended onto two islands, but it was not until the 14th century that it underwent significant alterations and extensions under the von Oer family. The estate experienced its heyday in the middle of the 18th century, when it covered an area of almost one square kilometre and consisted of five further outer castles in addition to the core castle, which were secured by ramparts and moats.
The well-maintained condition of the castle today is thanks to the late Wilfried Grewing, the former lord of the castle. The foundation named after him has been particularly committed to preserving the property since 2020.