Therefore the preferred route for traffic to Delft and further on to Leiden and Haarlem passed along the site of the castle.

Its shore is now about 1.5 km south of the castle, but this reroute of its bed already started in the 13th century.

Lord Dirk of Matenesse acquired the castle (Burch) known as House te Riviere in 1339.

The wing north of it measures 8 by 17.5 m. The remaining southwestern space measured 12.5 by 5.5 m. In an investigation, Dutch archaeologist Jaap Renaud concluded that the small west side of the northern wing had a stepped gable, and that the remaining southwestern part was divided in two, and got two west-facing stepped gables, leading to a consistency between the painting, and the archaeological evidence.

[4] The 1947-1948 excavations that Renaud led, allowed him to draw a floor plan of the tower house and part of the 1574 outer bailey.

In the context of investigating the relation between the picture and archaeology, Renaud then did something that was scientifically correct, but would later be proven wrong.

[citation needed] The current ruins show the remains of an enceinte with buttresses on the inside at a very small distance from the main tower house.

Work on the castle and especially the main tower house continued in 1300-1304, but after that the project was left unfinished.

[7] The situation of a free standing tower inside a square castle is very rare in the current Netherlands.

The south side had a toilet and a niche for a Lavabo with a sink of red stone.

[17] In 1276, Aleid gave the abbey of Koningsveld the right to appoint one of its brothers to service the castle's chapel in exchange for 10 pounds a year.

William II (1227-1256) had a son and heir Floris V, Count of Holland (1254-1296), Aleid became his regent.

[19] In 1339, Te Riviere Castle was granted to Knight Dirk of Matenesse as a fief that could be inherited by his sons.

[18] The Hook and Cod Wars started in earnest after William of Bavaria came to Holland in the first days of February 1351.

[23] The speed by which the castle was taken can be explained by its importance for the trade of the Cod cities Delft and Schiedam.

Another explanation is that at the time the castle was still so big that it could not be defended by a minor lord like Dirk of Matenesse.

[citation needed] Meanwhile the Matenesse family held on to the castle, aided by the easy inheritance conditions.

[citation needed] The citizens of Schiedam then demolished the castle by pulling over its walls, which were found in the moats exactly 400 years later.

[25] For many years, the ruins of Te Riviere Castle stood free outside the city walls.

After archaeological investigations, the town hall offices were extended over the area between the keep and the (supposed) outer bailey.

[citation needed] The poor visual quality of the buildings and other choices made that by the 2010s, there were plans to redevelop the area.

[citation needed] By 2021, the plans include ideas to make the remaining ruins more visible.