Abbey St. Paul, Wisques
The
community of St. Pauls abbey at Wisques was forced to leave France in 1901.
They went to Belgium and lived at first in Honnay, near Namur. They went to
Oosterhout in 1906 and started there the St. Pauls abbey. Dom Bellot
constructed this abbey and worked from there until 1929.
When the
monks returned to France in 1920 a few of them stayed in Oosterhout, Dom Bellot
also. Most of the French monks left to Wisques and occupied the abby again.
It was a
ancient Château, modified in1889 by architect Paul Vilain from Lille.
In 1928 Dom
Bellot moves from Oosterhout to Wisques and continues his atelier from this
abbey at Wisques, leaving Hendrik van de Leur behind, who would continue the
work in The Netherlands as his associé-compagnon.
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View at the
backside of the abbey. This part is
designed by Dom Bellot. Behind the
rectangular windows is the refectory. Next and beneath
the cloister, build next to the
ancient Château. |
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The
original plans were to build an entire new abbey at the site of the Château. At
the east of the old Château Bellot started in 1930 the extension of the abbey,
building a refectory, kitchen, cloister and rooms for the monks. Further
extension was planned, because the foundations for a rectangular cloister are
still present nowadays. When the new abbey was finished, the Château would be
demolished...
In the
second worldwar the German army occupied the abbey. They complained about the
small kitchen and extended it, in style. After the war the monks returned, but
never completed the abbey to the original plans of Bellot.
About 1960
architect Joseph Philippe, a former pupil of Bellot, designed a east-wing
matching the style of the part Bellot designed in 1930. It contains a chapel,
the library and more rooms for the monks. A small bellfry at the south-east
side of the complex is also designed by Philippe.
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Cloister |
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The
cloister has twill arches made of bricks. These arches are decorated with
different colors of brick and near the statue of the virgin Mary colored bricks
are used to decorate the wall. The other walls are suprisingly plain. The cloister
at the north is designed by Bellot, the part at the east is made by Philippe.
Ath the west-end two naves of the cloister are closed by a temporary wooden
wall with door, since 1930...
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The refectory
has a ceiling of concrete, supported by brick colomns. The pulpit is made out
of concrete and decorated bij painter father François Mes
OSB. Bellot
isn’t using much color in this refectory. Only a belt of colored brick at
about 1 metre height is used to decorate. The concrete beams are painted
orange and green. On the floor different tiles are used to create the same
mosaic like in the cloister. The
stained-glass windows are yellow-red colored. Part of
the original refectory is nowadays the chapter house of the community. It’s
eastwall is rich decorated, as seen below. |
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On the
first and second floor the rooms of the monks are situated. The typical
architecture of Bellot can be found at the staircase.
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The new
chapel, designed by Joseph Philippe in 1960 can be seen at the right. Clearly
inspired by the refectory Philippe succeeded to match the style of Bellot. |
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Photo's: A.W.A. Lukassen
and A.A. Lukassen, july 2010
We wish to thank the monks
of Wisques for their generous hospitality.