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Bothey
consult the map of Bothey 
Population
332
Surface area
333 ha
How it got its name
Bothey may be derived from a Latin word meaning basket-making or willow bed, or a Germanic word referring to a stump, a tree trunk.
Inhabitants
Unknown
Whereabouts
Bothey is the smallest section of the town of Gembloux, covering only 333 ha.
The location stands on an area of uplands crossed from north to south by a sub-tributary of the River Orneau, the St. Pierre stream. The territory of Bothey is covered with a thick coat of silt whose natural drainage is responsible for the fertility of the land.
The altitude in Bothey varies between 120 and 170 metres.
Accessible via the N93 Namur-Nivelles highway, via the public transport line 347a Gembloux-St Martin-Tongrinne/Onoz (stop on the N93 at a place called Le Chat Botté)
History
Located on the eastern tip of Bothey, close to Mazy, the place called La Tomballe is a reference to the Merovingian graves to be found at this spot.
During the middle ages almost all of the Bothey territory was included in the earldom of Namur and was under the direct jurisdiction of the earl. A small part of the village's present-day area was dependent on the duchy of Brabant via Corroy-le-Castle. Consequently the village stood on the border between the two rival principalities.
In the 13th century, or it may have been as early as the 12th century, the canonesses of the noble chapter of Moustier-sur-Sambre owned quite a large farm in Bothey.
In 1626, Philip IV, king of Spain, who was also the earl of Namur, pledged (i.e. sold with a buy-back option) the jurisdictional lordship of Bothey to Baron Martin de Somog, who bequeathed this to the de Romrée family, who passed it on to the Colnet family by way of an exchange. The Colnets were descended from a Venetian family of glassmakers, who settled in the Hainaut region.
François-Herman-Joseph de Colnet was the first jurisdictional lord of Bothey.
When France annexed the Austrian Netherlands in 1795, the village gained the status of an independent municipality.
The parish of Bothey was abolished as a result of the Concordat being applied in 1803, whereupon the village's spiritual needs were tended by Corroy-le-Castle. However, the parish was restored in 1842.
When the baron of Pasquet d’Acosse, who built the new castle in Bothey, died in 1870, sensational legal proceedings were instituted in the light of his inheritance. A forger called Jean-Joseph Jaumart used a skilfully created document to back up his claim to be the testamentary heir. He was nonetheless exposed when a graphology expert was brought over from Paris.
When the Fathers of Très-St. Sacrement in Brussels bought Bothey castle, in 1927, they first of all set up a holiday home then a school (from 1931 to 1970). The castle now accommodates disabled people.
As a result of the merger of the municipalities on 2 January 1977 Bothey lost its status as an independent municipality. The village then became a section of Gembloux.
A must-see
St. Anne chapel (also known as the Oak Chapel) was built in the countryside, at the eastern tip of the village, in 1688.
The Acosse farm and castle comprise buildings from various periods (17th, 18th and 19th centuries ). The original system is not apparent owing to the myriad transformations. The present-day neo-classical style castle was built in 1828.
The old farm from the noble chapter of Moustier-sur-Sambre was built to the north of the church.
It retains the main entrance that could date back to the 13th -14th centuries. The other buildings date back to the 18th century, just like the presbytery built nearby in 1743.
Located on the chaussée de Nivelles, the old Au chat Botté staging post was built according to the classic style and dates from the second half of the 18th century. It was extended and raised in the following century.
