Forced by
anti-clerical laws the Benedictine community of Wisques, Northern France, took excile
at Oosterhout in The Netherlands. Because they were forced to leave everything
behind they were not able to hire a Dutch architect to design them a new abbey.
The abbot of the Solesmes community (at that time starting Quarr abbey) sent
the young Dom Bellot, to start building the new abbey at Oosterhout. It was the
unexpected start of the unexpected career of the monk-architect Bellot...
Dom Paul Bellot was not used using brick for buildings and started study of brickbuilding with Dutch architects as Berlage, Stuyt and Pierre Cuypers jr. Dom Bellot was bricklaying himself to learn all the possibilities of this material and in this first period of his work the abbey of St. Pauls was constructed. (1906-1907)
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Bellot uses
the gothic style at first: his arches have the typical gothic form, with a
top-stone in the middle.
Later he
would use parabolic arches at the most projects made of brick, and multi-angled
arches at his concrete based churches.
Very
beautiful is the room wich would act as chapel, but was intentionally ment to
be the sacristy of the future church. This room is shown on the last picture
and has a ceiling made of brick arches. The space between the arches is filled
by little arches, with glass in between.
In 1918 this chapel is expanded with a sanctuary. Later this room was
used as capitulary room for the monks.
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In 1909 the
abbey is expanded with a double cloister and with the part where the large
kitchen is.
From 1914 until
1920 Dom Bellot draws plans for a large abbey-church but it has never been
build. The plans for the sanctuary of this church would be the base of the
sanctuary of the Waalwijk church. (1925-1927). The present day abbey-church is
added by the Dutch architect Sluymer.
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The vault in the kitchen. |
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The
benedictinine monks have left the abbey in 2006. Nevertheless the abbey is
still used for a religious purpose. Nowadays the Chemin Neuf community is living
and working in it.
photo's:
A.W.A. Lukassen and A.A. Lukassen, summer 2014, winter 2017
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