Oret / Adelretia / Orech / Ôret)

Noted in Mardaga (1988) as a baptismal font made of blue-ish limestone in the 16th century. Listed and illustrated in BALaT KIK-IRPA [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10082585] [accessed 11 April 2024] as a baptismal font made of stone in the 16th century ["hauteur: 159 cm"], provided with a cover, also listed [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10082586]. The entry for Oret in the Belgian Wikipedia [https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oret] [accessed 11 April 2024] mentions that in the Middle Ages Oret had a baptismal font ["son église baptismale] and that the village became an independent parish in 1250 ["En 1250, à la suite de la demande de la communauté d’Oret, le village sera établi en paroisse autonome"] [NB: unfortunately the Wikipedia entry does not provide its source references]. A communication to BAI from Pol Herman (e-mail of 28 Dece,ber 2023) notes: "Oret is a very old settlement, already mentioned in chapter XI of the Vita Dagoberti II Regis (probably written around 898/899) under the name Adelretia. Villam predictam, Bevernam videlicet, prefato reddidit Gereoni sancto, retinuit autem quandam villulam ex ea, nuncupate Adelretia, deprecante quodam venatore suo Tassilo, qui eam cupiebat habere in beneficio. Oret already had a baptismal font in 1250, mentioned when the parish of Oret was separated from Biesme. Le village possède très tôt son église baptismale et des fonts baptismaux. Puis, en 1250, à la suite de la demande de la communauté d’Oret, le village sera établi en paroisse autonome. Le texte de l’acte de 1250 : ecclesia de Bevena et de Orech a tempora a quo non est memoria, batismales existants. The existing octagonal font at Oret, with its traditional 4 heads, typical for Mosan fonts, is certainly not the font that existed in 1250. It would agree with KIK-IRPA that its date is 16th century. However, the design of the heads and of the basin is very unusual. Therefore, my hypothesis would be that this font is made in a local stone mason’s workshop. Indeed, there were many quarries of limestone (petit granit) in the village. "L’abondance de pierres bleues dans les murs et façades des habitations du village témoigne de la présence de carrières dans les environs, entre autres à Biesme et à Biesmerée. Cependant, on extrayait aussi du petit granit dans le village, au lieu-dit « Station des minières » et dans les terrains près de la grotte des Nutons." -- The only similar font that I know is at Fosses-la-Ville, a village 13 km to the north-east of Oret".