The carpets in the basement of Radboud Castle are ‘ruined’, but water no longer flows in. At tsecond Christmas day a three centimeter layer of water formed, and despite previous efforts, the water continued to flow in. Yesterday the fire brigade emptied the basement again and closed a culvert.
The water appeared to enter the castle from the harbor via the moat. A culvert, a water passage that connects the moat to the harbour, has now been closed. “We didn’t know that the culvert could be closed,” says manager Emma Buis.
On Boxing Day, the basement of Radboud Castle in Medemblik flooded, causing a layer of water of three centimeters. The fire brigade took action, but the water continued to flow in through the seams between the wall and the floor. That is why the fire brigade took action again yesterday, causing the water level to drop by one meter and no longer flow into the basement.
Closing the culvert now prevents ‘new’ water from entering the moat from the harbor. “In the future, we will open the culvert in the spring and close it in the autumn.”
Carpets are ruined
Because the water penetrated gradually, the damage was limited. “Only the carpets were ruined. We were able to put the rest away safely, but it is a lot of extra work,” says Buis.
The castle’s Facebook page states that regular mopping will be necessary in the coming days due to absorbed moisture in the walls. “We have difficulty getting the room warm, so it is still very humid.”
Both the Castle Café and the museum are open as usual today.