Ardooie / Ardôoie

A reference in Biekorf (1921) is reported by Pol Herman in an e-mail communication to BSI [e-mail of 7 September 2021]; it concerns a former baptismal font that was located in a local garden, later moved to the village's market place. The Biekof [cf. supra ] text noted that a priest complained about a desecrated font at Ardooie, used as flower pot in a garden. The information received from Pol Herman describes the font as: "Blue stone from Hainaut (Ecaussines quarry or other). Octagonal, renaissance, in the Hainaut style. Probably fifteenth century. No trace of it in the history of the local church. Pol Herman (ibid.) adds " With the help of a local historian, I was able to find a picture of the garden at that time. And then a picture of its later use on the market place. Where it still is." The Onroerend Erfgoed [https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjecten/200644] [accessed 22 September 2021] reports that a new font was introduced in this church in 1681; the same entry repots another(?) font of 1950: "Doopvont, zwarte marmer en koperen deksel, circa 1950." [NB: no mention of the earlier font found in this source].