‘Huis Bergh’ has approximately 500 hectares of ground, of which 250 hectare is forest, in ownership. The Motte Montferland lays within the Bergherbos. A ‘motte’ is a man-made hill. The Motte Montferland is the highest motte in the Netherlands. It was made in the year 1000. At least the last 7 meters of the 12- to 17-meter-high motte were artificially raised. The motte is surrounded by a canal and a double earth wall.
The fact that the oldest lord van Bergh called himself ‘De Monte’, shows that his ancestral castle was placed upon a mountain or hill. It is assumed that the oldest generations Van den Bergh were established on Montferland, a motte, along the road from Zeddam to Beek in the Bergherbos, as opposed to the current Huis Bergh. The motte of Montferland, in 1999 appointed as ‘archeologically protected monument’ has been the subject of many archeological examinations. Based on found materials it has been concluded that the motte had a small heyday, before being abandoned in the second half of the eleventh century. In the twelfth century there would only have been a meager habitation.
Near the edge of the hill a small wall had been enforced, on which a wooden palisade was most likely constructed. Near the foot of the hill an empty canal is seen. The dirt in the canal has been theorized to be used to enforce a wall outside of it. To the north-west of the hill a U-shaped outer bailey was found, also surrounded by an empty canal.
The most remarkable finding was the foundation from an L-shaped tuff building, which wasn’t recovered completely, because part of it located underneath the current hotel. Within the foundation, several burn marks were found, pointing to one or perhaps more destructions. It isn’t clear if this L-shaped building used to be a keep.
Other findings on the motte were the remains of a sunken work or storage shed and an exceptionally big wooden building. Lastly, the foundation of a late medieval building was found. This is most likely the remainder of a building that was mentioned in 1527 in archivalia. On the plateau the remains of 5,5-meter-thick walls were found, potentially a never finished tuff tower.
In the archives Montferland is first mentioned in 1313/14 as a possession of the count of Gelre: that is, he received money from Montferland. In 1427 the duke of Gelre pawned among other thing the ‘Montferander berge’ to lord van Bergh. Ever since then lords and counts Van den Bergh have owned the hill.
