Olmen No. 1 / Olmele

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Results: 13 records

Click to view images and/or subjects

human figure - head

Scene Description: this Romanesque font head fragment, one of three that were built into the 15thC tower [cd. FontNotes]

Image Source: digital image (edited) [source N/A] Provided by Pol Herman

Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE – IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

view of church exterior - southeast view

Scene Description: Source caption: "Parochiekerk Sint-Willibrordus, Balen"

Image Source: digital photograph 1 July 2017 by Funkyxian [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parochiekerk_Sint-Willibrordus,_Balen_01.jpg] [accessed 21 September 2024]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-4.0

view of church exterior - tower - detail

Scene Description: Romanesque font head fragments were built into the 15thC tower [cd. FontNotes]

Image Source: digital image (edited) [source N/A] Provided by Pol Herman

Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE – IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

view of church exterior - tower - detail

Scene Description: Romanesque font head fragments were built into the 15thC tower [cd. FontNotes]

Image Source: digital image (edited) [source N/A] Provided by Pol Herman

Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE – IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

view of church exterior - tower - detail

Scene Description: Romanesque font head fragments were built into the 15thC tower [cd. FontNotes]

Image Source: digital image (edited) [source N/A] Provided by Pol Herman

Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE – IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

view of church exterior - tower - detail

Scene Description: Romanesque font head fragments were built into the 15thC tower [cd. FontNotes]

Image Source: digital image (edited) [source N/A] Provided by Pol Herman

Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE – IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

view of church exterior - tower - detail

Scene Description: Romanesque font head fragments were built into the 15thC tower [cd. FontNotes]

Image Source: digital image (edited) [source N/A] Provided by Pol Herman

Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE – IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

view of church exterior - tower - detail

Scene Description: Romanesque font head fragments were built into the 15thC tower [cd. FontNotes]

Image Source: digital image (edited) [source N/A] Provided by Pol Herman

Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE – IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

view of church exterior - tower - detail

Scene Description: Romanesque font head fragments were built into the 15thC tower [cd. FontNotes]

Image Source: digital image (edited) [source N/A] Provided by Pol Herman

Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE – IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

view of church exterior - tower - detail

Scene Description: Romanesque font head fragments were built into the 15thC tower [cd. FontNotes]

Image Source: digital image (edited) [source N/A] Provided by Pol Herman

Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE – IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

view of church exterior - tower - detail

Scene Description: Romanesque font head fragments were built into the 15thC tower [cd. FontNotes]

Image Source: digital image (edited) [source N/A] Provided by Pol Herman

Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE – IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

view of church exterior - west view

Scene Description: Source caption: "Parochiekerk Sint-Willibrordus, Balen"

Image Source: digital photograph 1 July 2017 by Funkyxian [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parochiekerk_Sint-Willibrordus,_Balen_02.jpg] [accessed 21 September 2024]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-4.0

view of font and cover

Scene Description: the 18thC font and cover

Image Source: digital image of a 1972 B&W photograph [cliché M102844] in BALaT KIK-IRPA [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/66876] [accessed 21 September 2024]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-4.0

INFORMATION

FontID: 25721OLM

Church/Chapel: Sint-Willibrorduskerk, Olmen

Church Patron Saints: St. Willibrord [aka Willibrordus]

Church Location: Kerkplein 10, 2491 Balen, Belgium -- Tel.: +32 14 74 41 70

Country Name: Belgium

Location: Antwerp, Vlaanderen / Flandres

Directions to Site: Located off (W) road N18, in the municipality and 2-3 km SW of Balen, 25 km NNW of Hasselt

Ecclesiastic Region: Antwerp

Font Location in Church: [fragments now built into the 15thC tower]

Date: n.d.

Century and Period: 12th - 13th century, Romanesque

Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Pol Herman for bringing this font to our attention and for his help in documenting it

Church Notes: 11th-12thC church disappeared; new church built ca. 1500; re-built 1890;

Font Notes: Click to view font notes

A baptismal font in this church is listed and illustrated in BALaT KIK-IRPA [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/66876] [accessed 21 September 2024]: "fonts baptismaux [...] marmer [...] Date: 1701 - 1800 [...] hoogte: 177 cm" [includes the font cover]. The entry for this church in the Inventaris Onroerend Erfgoed [https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjecten/52234] [accessed 21 September 2024] reports an 18th-century baptismal font made of marble in this church: "marmeren doopvont uit de 18de eeuw." The same information appears in the Belgian Wikipedia [https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sint-Willibrorduskerk_(Olmen)] [accessed 21 September 2024] mentions a baptismal font made of marble in the 18th-century in it: "Er is een 18e-eeuwse marmeren doopvont". A communication to BSI from Pol Herman (e-mail of 12 September 2024) reports that head fragments from two different fonts are found in the church: two of them inside the church, and three other heads buil into the outer walls of the tower: "The church of Olmen was originally a private church, i.e. a church that was owned by the lord of Olmen. The church was built on his land. The area between the church and the Asbeek also belonged to the lord of Olmen until the French period. Behind the church was a manor farm with a rampart. This building was owned by the lord, but was inhabited by a tenant. The fact that the church was originally a private church suggests that it was built in the Middle Ages. Since the church of Olmen was originally dedicated to Our Lady and later to Saint Willibrord, its origins probably fit in with the early medieval Christianization period (7th-8th century). The first church was located more than one kilometer further south, more specifically on the site of the current Boskapel. Most historians place the shift of the village centre and the church to the north in the 11th-12th century. No traces of a church built in this period have been found so far. A new church was built in the 14th century or the 15th century. The current church tower dates from the end of the 15th century. The altar was consecrated in 1499. Further historical sources are lacking. The head fragments: 1) High up in the tower, three heads of a Mosan Romanesque baptismal font are integrated. Probably from 1170-1220. This must be the font used in the church after the shift of the village centre. 2) In the church, two heads of a Mosan Gothic baptismal font are preserved. They must be 16th century."

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 51.142092, 5.149039

Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 51° 8′ 31.53″ N, 5° 8′ 56.54″ E

UTM: 31U 650329 5667822

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, limestone

Font Shape: [fragment]

REFERENCES

KIK-IRPA, BALaT KIK-IRPA, 2024. Accessed: 2024-09-21 00:00:00. URL: https://balat.kikirpa.be/.