Stratum

The Nederlandsche katholieke stemmen; weekblad, jrg 8, 1886, n° 50, date 12/12/1886 reported that, during the demolition of the old church in 1885, a baptismal font a bluestone baptismal font with pedestal was found at a depth of 11 ft. under the ground, apparently of a very high age. The baptismal font has no inscription; the basin bears four heads sculpted into the stone as an ornament. An updated by Peter Norbertus Panken te Bergeik, in Geschiedenis van Noordbrabant (1898) informed: No wonder that my repeated inquiries, after an old baptismal font made in this parish, have always proved fruitless, since it must have been buried, presumably at the beginning of the Reformation. When much of the old church was torn down for rebuilding in 1886, a bluestone baptismal font with the pedestal was found five feet below the floor. The basin bears four heads carved into the stone, no further ornaments. The Meierijsche courant of December 4, 1886 reports this discovery and reports that this antiquity could be seen at W. Booms in Eindhoven [NB: a clarification received from Pol Herman (e-mail of 4 January 2022 to BSI) notes: Willem Hendrikus Booms was a construction contractor from Eindhoven]. Geschiedenis de Begraafplaats St. Joris te Stratum [https://www.stratum-heden-en-verleden.nl/geschiedenisjoriskerkhofstratum.htm] [accessed 23 January 2022] notes: "Toen de Sint-Jorisparochie in 1489 een zelfstandige parochie werd, mocht zij ook beschikken over bezittingen als een doopvont, luidklokken en een eigen kerkhof." Baptismal font here mentioned in GESCHIEDENIS VAN DE ST. JORISKERK IN EINDHOVEN-STRATUM [http://stratum-heden-en-verleden.nl/geschiedenisjoriskerk.htm] [accessed 23 January 2022]; no details given but there is an illustration of a modern font in it.