Westerhoven / Wésteroowve

Handelingen van het provinciaal genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen in Noordbrabant, over het jaar 1859, ’s Hertogenbosch, Gebroeders Muller, Uitgevers van het Genootschap, 1859 reports on the font at Westerhoven: the foot of the font stands under the pulpit and the basin is used by a blacksmith to cool the iron. A set of unpublished hand-written notes [ca. 1898?] by Peter Norbertus Panken of Bergeik, digitised by Johan Biemans and released by the Stichting Cultureel Brabant (CuBra), informs: Although Westerhoven was not ecclesiastically separated from the mother church Bergeik until the middle of the 15th century, a rather large church was built in the eleventh century or at the beginning of the twelfth, probably to replace a smaller wooden one. It stood outside of the village. It is true that no documents have been found when that ancient church was founded, but a few drawings, made according to the memory by experts of this church, leave no doubt of the construction style of the 11th century. From 1648 onwards, the separate standing church was used by the Protestants for some time, but then it fell without a roof and soon the sacristy was lost through decay, as well as the stone churchyard wall, etc. An arched wall was standing until about 1818, when it collapsed. A few small flagstones of the church floor were still in place at the time of the final demolition. The old stone baptismal font from this church was used as a holy water font in the roman catholic barn church, which was demolished in 1821. Baptismal font of Westerhoven. 15th century. The octagonal baptismal font served as a holy water font in the barn church until its demolition in 1822, and the footh served, from then on, as a support for the pulpit in the then-built church, until it was demolished in 1886. From 1822 to about 1850 the basin lay in the garden of the rectory, after which it was bought by a blacksmith in the hamlet of Loveren as a cool trough, and neglected for some years afterwards. This rather smooth font of blue tombstone, about 1 m. high, contained no ornaments other than some moldings in the base or lower part. The container was 3.5 decimeters wide, more than 3 centimeters thick. Long torn, it had fallen to pieces in 1868. The present font in use in this new church is modern.