Scry

Baptismal font listed and illustrated in BALaT KIK-IRPA [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10112073] [accessed 24 November 2025]: "fonts baptismaux [...] gothique [...] Date: 1541 - 1560 [...] hauteur: 101 cm". The listing for its 19th-century brass cover in the same source [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10112074[] [accessed 24 November 2025]: "couvercle de fonts baptismaux [...] laiton coulé [...] Date: 1801 - 1900 [...] hauteur: 45 cm". The entry for this church in the Belgian Wikipedia [https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Église_Saint-Martin_de_Scry] [accessed 24 November 2025] notes a baptismal font made of limestone in the mid-16th century in it: "fonts baptismaux en calcaire du milieu du XVIe siècle".

A communication to BSI from Pol Herman (email of 23 November 2025) informs: "In the former seigneury of Abée, whose castle is already mentioned in 1139, there were two churches where worship was regularly practiced: Abée, a chapel dedicated to St. Donat, that is also known as église St. Remy, and Scry, whose patron saint was St. Martin of Tours. Abée, Two other places of public worship existed on the grounds of the seigneury of Abée, but they did not always depend ecclesiastically from the parish: Saint-Vitu or Saint-Viteur, chapelle Notre-Dame des Sept-Douleurs et de Saint-Antoine at the château de Saint-Vitu, since around 1570 https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10112023, and Tielliesse or Tillesse, parish church Notre-Dame (quarta capella) at the château de Tillesse, older than 1215, became the mother church of Tinlot, was later demoted to branch church of Scry until 1834 and now demolished. No baptismal font known."
Additional historical notes on Abée from Pol Herman: "Scry was by the oldest and most important church in the seigneury of Abée. It held supremacy over the chapel of Abée. The priest of Scry alone was qualified to administer baptism. This hierarchy was reflected in the name of the parish: Scry-Abée. Meanwhile, the name of the village was Abée-Scry, respecting the seigneurial supremacy. The tithe from the sanctuary of Scry was divided into thirds, a practice often associated with churches predating the 10th century. Furthermore, this church is frequently referred to in texts as the 'ecclesia matrix', a term often applied to churches dating back to the Merovingian era. The antiquity of this church is also evident in the fact that it was dedicated to St. Martin. From the 13th century onward, it was under the patronage of the Abbey of St. Hubert, which appointed the parish priests until the end of the Ancien Régime. But the Lord of Abée supported the parish until the Revolution. Between 1559 and 1561, Jean de Blehen, the Lord of Abée, built or rebuilt the church of Scry in the Late Gothic style. It was (now ?) located near the hill known as 'the tomb'. This must have been a Roman tumulus. He furnished it with valuable liturgical pieces. Around 1780, the church did not have a tower. In 1910, some Neo-Gothic modifications were made and a tower added. We can assume that Jean de Blehen donated this luxurious Mosan baptismal font with four heads around 1561."