Aubechies / Abechies / Abeciae / Obechies

INFORMATION

Font ID: 26014AUB
Object Type: Baptismal Font1?
Font Date: n.d.
Font Century and Period/Style: 11th - 12th century (?), Romanesque?
Church / Chapel Name: Eglise Saint-Géry d'Aubechies / Sint-Gorikkerk
Font Location in Church: [disappeared]
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Géry (Djèri, Gau, Gaugericus, Gorik, bishop of Cambrai)
Church Notes: 11thC church for a Benedictine abbey dedicated to the Holy Trinity and Saint Géry founded in 1077; church remained unfinished until 1454; enlarged in 1836; restored and stone tower added 1904
Church Address: Pl. d'Aubechies, 7972 Beloeil / Belœil, Belgium -- Tel.: +32 479 40 26 15
Site Location: Hainaut, Wallonie / Wallonne, Belgium, Europe
Directions to Site: Located off (N) the N526, in the municipality and 6-7 km NW of Beloeil / Belœil, about 20 km E of Tournai
Ecclesiastic Region: Bisdom Doornik / Diocèse de Tournai
Additional Comments: disappeared font? (the one from the medieval church here)
Font Notes:
A communication to BSI from Pol Herman (email of 5 December 2025) provides historical information on the church here, and notes that the church baptismal records cover from 1719 to 1808, but there is no trace of a baptismal font in it. I further refers to an interesting hexagonal basin found in the crypt of the church, the remains of a Roman sanctuary (a nympheum) on which the Christian church was built using material from the Roman building. The said basin is listed (w/o illustration) in BALaT KIK-IRPA [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10155368] [accessed 5 December 2025]: a 1973 "négatif monochrome" from IRPA [image not available in the source above] "représente une section hexagonale de la piscine de la crypte dite "nympheum". Choeur à chevet plat surmontant une crypte-couloir transversale, contenant un bassin d'époque gallo-romaine. Le site d'Aubechies est proche vis-à-vis de l'antique chaussée Bavai-Velzeke. Bibliographie: Le Patrimoine Monumental de la Belgique, Wallonie (13, Hainaut: Ath-arr. A-B, 1988, p. 371 - 373)" [NB: we are not including the Gallo-Roman piscina in the BSI listings]
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Pol Herman for bringing this site to our attention and for his help documenting it

COORDINATES

UTM: 31U 547889 5602706
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 50.574306, 3.676306
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 50° 34′ 27.5″ N, 3° 40′ 34.7″ E