Snellegem / Snethlingehem

The entry for this church in the Inventaris Onroerend Erfgoed [https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjecten/88778] [accessed 1 March 2024] reports an 18th century marble baptismal font with a copper lid in use in the church ["18de-eeuwse marmeren doopvont met koperen deksel"]. A communication to BSI from Pol Herman (e-mail of 23 October 2023) gives a reference to the basin fragment a medieval Mosan font from the church of Snellegem mentioned in Ghislain (1993): "in this article, Ghislain mentions the baptismal font “of Snellegem”. This font was brought on the market by an antiques dealer at Eindhoven (Netherlands) in 1989. At that time, Ghislain was given a picture of the font by Emile Jacquemyn, historian and guide at Bruges, who has published several articles about Tournai-type fonts. Although there is no information at all about this basin, it was said that its provenance is Snellegem." The accompanying illustration shows a typical Mosan basin with human heads at 90-degree angles and at least one animal [lion?] head with palmette vegetation issuing from its mouth; the upper part of the fragment appears badly damaged, and there is no visible base. Pol Herman's message [cf. supra] adds details of the parish and its church: "The ecclesiastical history of Snellegem goes back a long way. In the 7th century Snellegem belonged to the Merovingian crown domain. The Oosthof farm was its central seat (fiscus). In the second half of the 7th century, a wooden church dedicated to Saint Stephen was built near the farm at the instigation of Saint Eloi (Saint Eligius). In 1956-57, excavations were carried out and the post holes of the three-aisled wooden church were discovered. Snellegem appeared for the first time in 941, as Snethlingehem. Around 953, mention was made of a new church: a deed of donation by Count Arnulf the First, in favor of the St. Peter's Abbey in Ghent, states that the abbey came into possession of half of the parish church of Snellegem. Around 1150 the parish ownership was transferred to the Abbey of Mont Saint-Quentin (Vermanois), that immediately had a new church built on the same site under the invocation of Saint Eligius: a Romanesque, three-aisled basilical cruciform church with a crossing tower. It was one of the oldest Romanesque buildings in Flanders. Fieldstone was used as the main building material, supplemented with tuff and large bricks. In 1489 the church was partially destroyed. In the 15th or 16th century, the Romanesque choir was replaced by a Gothic choir and the Romanesque crossing arches were replaced by Gothic ones. In 1671, the northern aisle of the nave was demolished and the passages to the central aisle were closed up. Around 1890 the church was largely demolished, only the west aisle and the crossing tower remained standing. Between 1891 and 1893 a new neo-Gothic church was built next to the old parts, which were conserved up to this day."