Vieux-Berquin / Oud-Berkijn

A mention of the medieval baptismal font of Vieux-Berquin is found in the Bulletin des Antiquaires de la Morinie, in a report of the 17 March 1856 session (1857: 217-218) by "M. Arnould de Tournay", where he refers to the baptismal font of Vieux-Berquin as being "aussi anciens, quoique moins riches pour les détails que celles de St-Venant". The medieval font is included in a group listed in a footnote in Camille Enlart's Villard de Honnecourt et les cisterciens, in Bibliothèque de l'Ecole des Chartes, vol. 62 (Paris, 1895): 44 fn4. Noted in Kees de Wildt's Doopvont de Beeldenstorm (2018: 114-120) as one of a number of baptismal fonts of the Westerkwartier (then part of Flanders, later in France) having been desecrated, damaged or destroyed during the Iconoclastic Fury of 1566. [NB: the font, damaged probably, must have survived the mid-16th century riots, as it is described in mid- and late-19th century sources]. [NB: an entry in Geocache [https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC3YAQK_leglise?guid=2c1dd2dd-0a61-420c-92bc-317a1f813b53] [accessed 13 May 2022] notes: "Détruite pendant la première guerre, l'église de Saint-Venant fut reconstruite après 1918 [...] On y trouve à l'intérieur des fonts baptismaux du XIe siècle (art roman) qui proviennent de Vieux-Berquin." [NB: this must be a mistake]. The present font in the new church is modern [cf. ImagesArea]