Asper / Haspra

Baptismal font made of limestone in the 16th century listed and illustrated in BALaT KIK-IRPA [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/15631] [accessed 15 March 2026]: "doopvont 16de, deksel 18de [...] hoogte: 160 cm" [height given includes both font and cover].
A communication to BSI from Pol Herman (e-mail of 3 November 2025] informs: "Asper, Sint-Martinusker https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjecten/36054 -- https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sint-Martinuskerk_(Asper). Asper was first mentioned in a charter from 963, as Haspra. The origins of the church of Asper will likely remain shrouded in the mists of time. The oldest traces of its existence can be found in a charter from 966.
In 1121, the church's patronage rights were granted to Saint Bavo's Abbey in Ghent. "An investigation of the patronage of parish churches in the Scheldt basin from earliest Christianity to 1559" by G. Berings shows that the Saint Martin's patronage refers to an early medieval foundation. It belonged to the diocese of Noyon-Tournai, and from 1147 onwards to Tournai. The church is mentioned in bulls of Pope Adrian IV (1156) and Alexander III (1170). In the 12th and 13th centuries, a Romanesque church was built of Tournai stone, of which the crossing tower and choir have been preserved. There is nothing to exclude the possibility that a wooden oratory had previously been erected. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the church was rebuilt in the Gothic style. The religious conflicts of the second half of the 16th century were responsible for the destruction of much of the church furnishings. On January 11, 1901, the church was destroyed by fire. Only the choir and the transept, along with the base of the tower, remained. The tower was restored as closely as possible to its original design. The bluestone baptismal font dates from the 16th century and has a lid dating from 1752. https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/15631"