Origins and medieval times According to legend, Uccle's Church of
St. Peter was dedicated by
Pope Leo III in the year 803, with
Charlemagne and Gerbald,
Bishop of Liège, attending the ceremony. During the following centuries, several noble families built their manors and took residency there. The first mention of the name
Woluesdal, now evolved into
Wolvendael, dates from 1209. In 1467,
Isabella of Portugal, wife of
Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, founded a
Franciscan convent on Uccle's territory. Later, Uccle became the
judiciary capital of the area including
Brussels. Throughout the early stages of its history, however, the village of Uccle always had a predominantly rural character and lived mostly from the products of
forestry and
agriculture.
Lordship of Stalle A large part of the territory of modern-day Uccle used to be part of the
Lordship (
seigneurie) of Stalle, in addition to the old village of Uccle and the
barony of Carloo. The first Lords of Stalle (High Justiciaries) were: Henri de Stalle, knight (died before 1357); Florent de Stalle, his son,
alderman of Brussels in 1319 and knight. He married Lady Aleyde; and Florent de Stalle, knight and alderman of Brussels in 1357, member of the
Seven Noble Houses of Brussels. It was he who, with his brother Daniel, founded the Stalle chapel and gave it lands. Dependent
fiefs of the Lordship of Stalle included the Fief of Overhem and the Fief of the Roetaert. The Fief of Overhem was located between the Dieweg and Stalle, it had a manor, a mill called
Clipmolen, woods, and pasture. However, in 1465, Marguerite Hinckaert wife of Louis de Mailly, obtained from the sovereign the annexation of this fief to the Lordship of Stalle. The Fief of the Roetaert was located in Neerstalle, between the Kersbeek woods and the Ukkelbeek. Its surface amounted to 39.78 acres of land and meadows and it included the manor of Roetaert.
18th century until today At the end of the 18th century, a few years after the
French Revolution, Uccle merged with neighbouring territories to become a
municipality, with its own
burgomaster (mayor) and municipal assembly. It had to wait until 1828, however, for the Dutch authorities to allow the construction of the first Municipal Hall. This was a time of economic prosperity and growth, stimulated by the proximity to the two main roads linking Brussels to the industrial south. A newer and larger Municipal Hall was built between 1872 and 1882. Banker and philanthropist
Georges Brugmann was instrumental in the urbanisation of the municipality just before the turn of the 20th century. In the early 20th century, Michel van Gelder introduced a new breed of chicken, the
d'Uccle, named after the town. Despite the accelerated rate of construction that took place in the early 20th century, Uccle succeeded in keeping several of its green areas intact, which now attract many of the Brussels area's wealthier inhabitants. Lying beyond
Forest and
Ixelles and skirting the
Sonian Forest, Uccle is Brussel's largest and southernmost municipality. Large 19th- and 20th-century
villas with generous gardens make this green and calm suburb a favourite with well-off expatriates, with the
Art Deco area around the
Royal Observatory of Belgium and the fringes of the Sonian Forest the two most desirable addresses. ==Main sights==