Kerk, Midstrjitte 46

English translation

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Description

Introduction

Roman Catholic HIDDEN CHURCH of the Holy Archangel Michael with attached RECTORY, ORGAN, BELL and valuable INTERIOR COMPONENTS. Evidenced by a stone tablet in the right side facade dated 1792, erected in the form of a barn church building, which still manifests itself on the Midstrjitte as a dwelling house. Since its foundation, the building has undergone various alterations and changes which, with the exception of the addition of the tower section, blocking of several doors and renovation/modernisation of the rectory, chiefly concern the interior of the building. In 1840, the organ dating from 1811 by the Frisian organ builder A. van Gruisen is installed. In 1909, a restoration takes place under the direction of architect W. te Riele from Deventer, on which occasion the originally austere classicist-looking building, through renewal of parts of the interior (including the furniture), acquires a more neo-gothic character. In 1912, renovation of the choir follows under the direction of architect H. Kroes. In 1933, the building is extended on the Merkstrjitte side (at the expense of the three-sided apse) according to the design of architect H. van der Bijl from Amstelveen in Romanising style and provided with a tower. A number of older elements are reused, such as the doors of the portal and the confessional.

In the nineteen-sixties, the walls, trees and hedges that surrounded the church were demolished respectively felled. In 1984, two houses on the north side are demolished, as a result of which the church increasingly comes into view and, viewed from the outside at least, has lost nearly all character as a hidden church. Despite the renovations and interventions, particularly the interior of the current building has retained its character very well. The former hidden church is specifically protected because of its rich building history, the interior and associated interior components, but also because of the regional uniqueness of the original function.

Description

Church building erected from yellow Frisian brick with plastered west facade and round-arched windows with iron tracery and attached rectory erected from red brick (partially altered) with three sash windows in the front facade (left side facade no longer original). The whole is covered by a hipped roof clad with (partly older) black glazed tiles; iron wall anchors; gutters on corbels. In the right side facade of the church a sandstone foundation stone with inscription and date 1792. The austere tower section (1933) with portal, baptistry and confessional with nicely carved doors, is erected in Romanising style from machine-made brick; double wooden entrance doors with ornamental fittings; round-arched windows; belfry openings; spire clad with slate (Maas covering). Bell cast in 1933 by the firm Eysbouts in Asten. In the left side facade of the tower a hardstone memorial stone, referring to the restoration of the church in 1909 and the building activities of 1933. The INTERIOR of the hall-church-like building (central nave with very narrow side aisles) is articulated by eight Tuscan columns resting on plinths with marbled finish, which support a Louis XVI barrel vault with stucco decorations and profiled stucco mouldings; tie rods; worked stucco rosettes, referring to nature, music and song, commerce and shipping (1792). The pilasters were originally light yellow marbled; the columns black-red. The current white/black marbling dates from 1940. The wooden furniture dates from around 1909. From the interior components present, the most important (re)building and renewal activities can be clearly read: 1. the classicist period (1792); 2. the neo-classical renewal (circa 1840-1860); 3. the Art Deco renovation (1933-1937); 4. the post-war period. From the aforementioned periods, the following components are among the most important: the altar with marbled pilasters and columns with composite capitals on either side, which carry a slender arch (1792); the marbled wooden altar chest with cartouche depicting the Lamb of God and coping in Louis XVI style (1792); the double marbled wooden candle stand in Louis XVI style (1792); the tabernacle from 1867 (with wooden carved canopy, brass crown and crucifix from 1939-40); above the altar a stucco rosette with radiating halo and All-Seeing Eye. Painted altarpiece (on canvas) depicting the Raising of Lazarus (1824, Otto de Boer, Woudsend); Stations of the Cross (1852, Otto de Boer; Art Deco framing nineteen-thirties); series of coloured stained-glass windows in wrought iron framework with biblical scenes and saints, executed in a realistic late-gothic-looking style (1927-28, atelier C. van Straaten in Utrecht); redemption cycle painted on hardboard in partly realistic, partly Byzantinising style (1937, Jacob Ydema, Blauwhuis). Series of neo-gothic plaster figures depicting: Mary with Jesus (1910), Joseph (1913), Barbara (circa 1920), Michael (1921), Anthonius of Padua (1927), Theresa of Lisieux (1927), Isidore (1928), Sacred Heart figure (nineteen-thirties); lamps (1909); oak church and choir pews (circa 1909); two substantial bronze neo-gothic candlesticks and processional cross (1913); triumphal cross (1920); confessional (1933) and baptismal font (1933, manufactured by the firm J. Maas and Sons in Haarlem). On the gallery with balustrade, in which incorporated a portion of the richly carved old communion bench (cherubs and leafwork, 1792), stands a single-manual organ, manufactured in 1811 by the firm A. van Gruisen from Leeuwarden. In the baptistry a small oak cabinet with Frisian carving (possibly still 17th-century). The church ship dates from 1985 (Johannes Silvius); the altar in postmodern Byzantinising style and the icon in Greek style, depicting the archangel Michael (Johannes Kuipers, Het Harde) date from 1988. These components fall outside the protection due to insufficient age.

Valuation

Hidden church with attached rectory of general cultural-historical and architectural-historical importance:

- because of its age;

- because of its building history;

- because of its original function;

- because of the design of the interior;

- because of the valuable interior components;

- because of its uniqueness at provincial level;

- because of its rarity at national level.