Wiel nr. Buren / Whiel

A 1928 photograph in the 1928, in the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed shows the octagonal basin of a stone baptismal font being used as cooling vat in a forge at the time; it is now known that this basin came from the disappeared church/chapel of St John the Baptist, also in Eck. Pol Herman reports in a 30 October 2021 e-mail to BSI: "I was puzzled and have continued to search. Now, I have found the confirmation of my presumption in: Aardrijkskundig woordenboek der Nederlanden, Deel 12. Author : A.J. van der Aa. Editor : Jacobus Noorduyn, Gorinchem, 1849, Page 375. Translation: Wiel formerly known as Whiel, hamlet in the Lower Betuwe, .... This hamlet is first mentioned in the year 1347. There used to be a chapel here, the baptismal font of which was excavated some years ago on the spot where the chapel stood. Currently still used at the village blacksmith in Eck as a cooling vessel. The St. Anna Church is a late Gothic village church, a so-called pseudo-basilica. Founded around 1266 and dedicated (dedicated) to St. Anna (gifted). Probably because the founder's mother Bartholomew van Eck was called Anna. The original church was destroyed around 1363 during disputes between the Bronckhorsten and the van Heeckerens (the reason is unknown). Reconstruction was soon started, but progressed slowly. Thus, the tower dates from the 14th century, the nave from the end of the 15th and early 16th century and the choir from the 16th century. The pulpit dates from the 17th century (after the reformation), the base was originally from a 15th century baptismal font. I found information and a picture in : "De Betuwe. Authors R.F.P. de Beaufort en Herma M. van den Berg Staatsuitgeverij, Den Haag 1968, Page 338, picture 325. To me, this is undoubtedly the base of a late-gothic Mosan bluestone baptismal font (because the triangular diamants are deduplicated). Eck used to belong to the diocese of Liège and is close to the Meuse river. I am not surprised that a “Walloon” baptismal font had been installed. Now I discover that a basin is known in Eck and Wiel : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Doopvont_als_koelbak_in_een_smederij_-_Eck_en_Wiel_-_20324163_-_RCE.jpg -- Dutch Reformed Church - Annakerk: Baptismal font as a cooling trough in a smithy (Note: Caption: Basin of a baptismal font present as a cooling trough in a smithy in Eck en Wiel (condition in March 1928). This baptismal font is said to have come from an earlier church, which must have stood near the former House Wiel). In my opinion, the base+column of Eck and the basin of Wiel do not fit. The basin does not seem Mosan to me, but rather Hainaut-type. Then I read in the same document “De Betuwe”: There used to be a chapel in Wiel, which was dedicated to St. John the Baptist (source : De Navorscher; middel tot gedachtenwisseling en letterkundig verkeer, Amsterdam 1903, p. 354), and in which a vicar was established (source : W. Wijnaendts van Resandt, De vicarieën in Gelderland enz. Amsterdam 1943, p. 112). After the Reformation, this chapel, which before that time belonged to Ingen, was united with the ecclesiastical community of Eck. Therefore I would presume that the base+column are from the mosan-type late gothic font of the Saint-Anna church in Eck. And the basin is from a gothic Hainaut-type font of the lost chapel of Wiel. The fact that this chapel was named after St. John the Baptist suggests that it had baptismal rights. [cf. BSI entry for Eck en Wiel No. 1 for the font in Eck en Wiel St. Ann's].