Yerseke / Gersika / Ierseke

The object now used as a baptismal font in Sint Odulphuskerk, Yerseke, is said to have been fished out of the waters near the disappeared church of Reimerswaal [cf. infra], but the tiny octagonal basin is far too small to have been a font and may, at best, have been a holy-water stoup. [NB: we have no information on Yerseke's own disappeared medieval font]. The information below was conveyed to BSI by Pol Herman (e-mail of 3 December 2021): 1)Tijdschriftenbank Zeeland. Bulletin Stichting Oude Zeeuwse kerken | 1998 | 1 september 1998 | pagina 9. Sint Odulphuskerk te Yerseke, by G.J. Lepoeter: What remains of old elements are a few, mostly battered tombstones, and a special stone baptismal font, fished up years ago on the site where the city of Reimerswaal used to be, now disappeared as a result of flooding. The fisherman who had found the baptismal font in his nets had no idea of ​​its historical value and used it as a drinking trough for his chickens. Until this was accidentally noticed by G.D. van Oosten. He got the baptismal font in his possession. After his death in 1967, the baptismal font moved as a garden ornament to his daughter's garden in Middelburg. Mrs. Master J.D.C.J. Janzen-van Oosten transferred the baptismal font to the church of Yerseke, after the restoration in 1977. Given the relatively small dimensions, G.D. van Oosten at the time expressed the suspicion that this baptismal font may have come from the chapel of the Lodijke castle in Reimerswaal. The original,stone baptismal font that used to be in the church of Yerseke disappeared during the restoration in 1887. Later this baptismal font stood as a flower vase in the garden of oyster trader Iz. Willemse. 2)Tijdschriftenbank Zeeland. . Bulletin Stichting Oude Zeeuwse kerken | 2006 | 1 november 2006 | pagina 20. Sporen van de katholieke eredienst in Middeleeuwse Zeeuwse kerken, by Regnerus Steensma. Finally, there is the so-called baptismal font in Yerseke. In the church, on a new pedestal, a basin of gray sandstone stands. This was fished years ago from the Oosterschelde at the place where the disappeared village of Reimerswaal used to be. The basin is eight-sided and partly due to the shape, it is thought that it must have been a baptismal font. However, the small size argues against this. The basin measures 29 cm on the outside over the surfaces and has a size of only 23 cm on the inside. The height is 13.5 cm. These measurements make it unlikely that we are dealing here with the remains of a baptismal font. If it comes from a church, the function of a freestanding holy water font would be more obvious.