Het Lam

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Introduction

The remonstrant chapel 'Het Lam' was built in the third quarter of the seventeenth century for one of the three movements within the Mennonite church that had a church building in Blokzijl. The architect drew inspiration for both the interior and exterior from the Singelkerk in Amsterdam. Although the furnishings of the church are still wholly original, it is uncertain whether the current position of the pulpit and pews is the original one. What is certain is that the front façade underwent major alterations in the nineteen-fifties when the plastered gable top with semicircular termination was replaced by a simplified top with straight cornice.

Description

The building is a hall church on a rectangular plan, covered by a broken gabled roof with half-hipped ends. The remonstrant chapel has a symmetrical cornice-topped façade with plastered plinth and for the entrance a stone step with octagonal bollards. Above the step a double door with bolt within a surround of fluted wooden pilasters on stone bases and an entablature with dentil moulding. The façade is further provided with three recessed iron pointed arch windows with rose-shaped tracery, with rod anchors and a non-original cornice. The side façades are articulated by means of broad pilasters, between which are iron pointed arch windows as in the front façade. The façades are executed in hand-moulded brick, the roof is covered with Dutch tiles.

The rear façade is blind and provided with an extension (vestry) under a gabled roof. The room has a spout gable which is provided with a sash window with glazing bars, ventilation grilles, rod anchors, a hatch and a drip moulding of Bentheimer sandstone. In the side façade are two sash windows with glazing bars and a door with fanlight, likewise with glazing bars.

The interior is symmetrical and retains its original furnishings. The entrance door leads via a small wooden entrance vestibule to the church hall. The vestibule has a continuous profiled upper jamb and a cornice. Against the side walls in the church stand the pews, which slope in height from back to front and are provided with small doors. In the centre before the pillars stands a single pew. The wooden pulpit, placed centrally against the rear wall, has a hexagonal body with panels within moulded frames and a projecting drip moulding, which is covered with velvet. The body stands on a broad pillar with a profiled base and eight consoles with curls and acanthus leaf motifs. The wooden staircase has a carved newel post and handrail, between which cast iron balusters are set. The lectern is open-worked, chased copper with curved pipe consoles and inscription of the name E. Eleveld. Above the pulpit hangs a canopy with round light opening. On either side of the pulpit are doors as in the entrance vestibule, which give access to the vestry beyond. In both corners stands a curved eldermen's pew with small doors and a canopy supported on curved brackets with moulded edge. Above the doors to the vestry are blind pointed arch windows in which the hymn boards are mounted. The walls are terminated by a projecting cornice and are connected at the top by tie rods, to which the original copper and glass chandeliers are attached. The ceiling is a ribless, whitewashed barrel vault (pseudo-barrel vault) with centrally open-worked ornaments of stucco, terracotta or plaster formed in moulds. The floor is of wood. Above the entrance, on the west wall of the church and supported by two marbled Tuscan pillars, is the singing/organ gallery with a single-manual balustrade organ built in 1858 with attached pedal by the Zwolle organ maker Jan van Loo in an organ case with neo-baroque ornaments in the form of draperies, open-worked wing pieces and hanging floral ornaments. The case is provided with towers, the taller central tower being crowned by a harp and the towers on either side by a wooden angel. The gallery has on both sides of the organ a solid balustrade with turned half-balusters on the front.

The vestry is likewise still in its original state with a wooden ceiling and a fireplace with fluted pilasters on the wooden mantelpiece as well as a door which leads to a corridor. Herein are the original doors with windows with glazing bars for the toilet, the kitchenette and the staircase to the loft. Single-manual organ, made in 1858 by J. van Loo. Restored in 1983 by Bakker en Timmenga.

Valuation

Apart from the alteration to the top of the front façade the remonstrant chapel is in virtually original condition and can therefore be qualified as intact. As an expression of a development in seventeenth-century ecclesiastical architecture 'Het Lam' is of cultural-historical value. The architectural-historical value is enhanced by the intact, original interior, although according to some photographs dating from circa 1920 the pulpit, pews, gallery and organ case were once brown. Also important is the presence of the still virtually intact organ by Van Loo, who left behind a small but valuable body of work. The church is also of urban planning significance as a visually dominant component of the street frontage.