Castle and Manor

According to the Liber Census Daniae, the lands of the ancient Keila village were granted to Tæmma, who probably constituted the origin of the Kegel family line. Earlier remains of buildings in the area, where later the centre of the manor was built, date from the 14th century. In 1433, Arndt Kalle sold the manor of Keila to the Livonian Order. During the Livonian war, Russian troops burned down the manor of Keila in 1560; however the manor was still referred to as a castle (castell zu Keigell) in 1599.
Archaeological finds from the medieval castle, inter alia medallion from the 14th Century – St. George`s fight with the dragon – are presented in permanent display of Harju County Museum. Among other territories, the vast lands of the Keila manor of the Order included the Pakri Peninsula and the island of Väike-Pakri.

The current manor house was built at the beginning of the 19th century during the life of Carl Reinhold Koskull who was a lord of the manor. Lords of the manor have changed quite often since then, the house has belonged to Friedrich Meyendorff (1816), Natalie Uexküll (1893), Kurt Fersen (1905), Nikolai Wrangell (1916), Ado Mäeberg and Jaan Minn (1917), as well as to Alfred Kalmile (1917). There were numerous manor economic- and outhouses: barns, stables, threshing barns, smithy, brewery, etc. on the river island and its surroundings. A garden with a systematic planning and also fishponds are mentioned already in the 17th century. A bit downstream there used to be a watermill.
In 1929–1934 and 1938– 1947, the manor hosted an agricultural school that was replaced by an army commissariat and a printing house. Since 1988 Harju County Museum is based there.
The last legal owner of the manor was Arne Kalm, who gave the building to the Estonian state as a gift in 1995.

The park with the area ca 16 ha was mainly founded in the second half of the 19th century. The most represented species are maple, ash, alder, but also fir and oak. In the 1920s-30s the river park was a loved resting place, where one might have found good bathing places (such as: Paradise - Paradiis, Red Lobster - Punane Vähk).