 This hamlet was already well-populated and built-up at a time that otherwise mainly a few monasteries were seen outside the city's former walls.Meanwhile, it obtained Mechelen's secondary station on Belgium's major Brussels-Mechelen-Antwerp railway, and the Toy Museum ("Speelgoedmuseum") with exhibits covering 7,000 m² in the former furniture manufacturer's Nova building.By the end of the third quarter of the 20th century, sand from nearby rivers had been disposed on a part of the Mechels Broek along the river Dijle.