Sint Martinuskerk

English translation

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Description

Introduction.

The Roman Catholic PARISH CHURCH Sint Martinus, several interior pieces of which are protected by the state under national monument number 30331, is situated on a distinctive Maas terrace in the centre of Neer and dominates an otherwise fairly open rural environment. The church, completed in 1909, was built in neo-Gothic style to a design by architect C. Franssen (Roermond). Contractors Derickx and Gooden carried out the work for f 48,550.--. Various parish churches have stood at this location over the centuries. The oldest relic of these now forms the core of the tower base. A new church was built against the tower in the late Middle Ages, which was significantly modified and extended in the nineteenth century. Franssen had this old church demolished for the execution of his plan, with the exception of the tower section. During the Second World War the church suffered heavily. The original stained-glass windows were destroyed and a large part of the southeastern choir and transept was rebuilt. The bell chamber and spire of the tower were blown up by the Germans in 1944. The more austere rebuilt tower, to a design by architect J. Franssen, dates from 1953.

Description.

The Sint Martinuskerk is situated on the highest terrace of the terraced Church Square in the centre of Neer and is largely separated from its immediate surroundings by brick retaining walls running all around. In the retaining wall on the front side (Kerkplein) is a stone staircase with curved steps, set into a curved brick arch on one side and ending in the retaining wall on the other side. On the flanking retaining wall donkey-back coping stones and a wrought-iron railing between brick pilasters with pine-cone finials.

It is an oriented three-aisled cross church of the basilica type, with gabled, lean-to and (running) hipped roofs, covered with slate in Maas bond. Ridge ends of nave, choir and transepts slightly flared and mostly crowned with stylized cross flowers; ridge end of apse crowned with a wrought-iron cross. In the roof slopes several roof dormers with abutting, running hipped rooflets with overhang, crowned with finials. On the crossing a roof turret with spire. In the northeastern angle of choir and transept is a three-storey sacristy also covered with slate in Maas bond with stylized cross flowers on the ridge ends.

The building is constructed of brick laid in stretcher bond with the application of profiled red facing brick around roof openings and blind niches and of stone for cornices, for offsets and for cope stones on the offsets of buttresses and portals. The exterior is further enlivened by the application of coupled brick tooth mouldings and decorative brickwork beneath the bargeboard gutters of nave, transept, choir, choir closure, side aisles and sacristy.

The church consists of a nave of two bays with an adjoining entrance porch, a transept with square-ended arms of one bay and a choir of one bay with a lower set and slightly recessed 7/12 closure. Side altars are located on either side of the choir bay.

The front facade has a tripartite elevation, consisting of a slightly projecting porch with a gable-topped canopy - with a quatrefoil at the apex and crowned with a stone cross - above which is a group of three ascending lancet windows and a spout gable with a climbing series of seven shallow pointed-arch niches, with a statue of St. Martinus under a canopy in the centre. On the left side the largely renewed bell tower from 1953. In the old tower base with blocked stone corner strings is a facade stone with the inscription 'Ano Dni MCCCCXLVII ipso die Egidii' ('in the year of our Lord 1447 on the same day of St. Egidius'), indicating medieval origin. In the angle of the front facade and tower rises a tapering buttress. On the right side a partly round and partly octagonal staircase tower with various windows and a slate-covered tower cap. To the right of the facade the former two-storey side entrance, now the Mary chapel, under an abutting hipped roof with a stylized cross flower on the ridge end. In the gable a lancet window with above it three coupled blind pointed-arch niches, in the right side gable three coupled lancet windows above the still present doors.

In the nave and choir the central aisle has a triplet of ascending lancets per bay and the side aisles have two lancet windows separated by buttresses. On the nave side of the aisles of the transepts are (partly later) side entrances. The closures of the transept arms are supported by buttresses and have triplets with ascending windows above which is a series of seven ascending pointed-arch niches. The apse has lancet windows between high-rising buttresses. The sacristy, with corner quoins and drip mouldings, has square-ended windows - partly fitted with security bars - under stone lintels.

Internally the church shows a variation in materials between simple whitewashed walls and vault fields and fair ashlar work. The floors of nave, transept and side aisles consist of Namur blue stone; the floor of the presbyter's choir of polychrome cement tiles with geometric and floral motifs. Nave, transept and choir are vaulted with whitewashed cross-ribbed vaults, the crossing has a star vault. Franssen attempted with the design for this church to find a synthesis between the basilica and a central-plan building. In addition to giving the nave and transepts side aisles, he attempted to achieve this through a special construction of the side aisle vaults whose vault fields slope upwards towards the central aisle in the direction of the springlines of the arches. The rectangular entrance porch is also vaulted with ribbed vaults.

The wall structure of nave, transept and choir bays consists successively of pointed, slender springing arches; a black decorative moulding; a false triforium with threefold coupled segment arches and the central aisle with triplets. The cross ribs rest on foliage capitals of Savonièresteen, which are placed diagonally on the pillars at the height of the black decorative moulding. The capitals are supported by slender brackets of black moulded stone. The binding arches emanate directly from the pillars and thus do not rest on capitals. In the square-ended transept ends and the apse the lancets rise directly from the black decorative mouldings. The entrance porch with overlying gallery was partially modified in 1997. It opens via two round arches into the central nave. The arches rest in the middle on a polished, black natural stone column with foliage capital. The gallery, vaulted with a cross-ribbed vault, is projecting.

The fairly austere interior of the church is enlivened by a rich and well-preserved legally protected inventory, partly from other churches and partly neo-Gothic. Noteworthy are among others: the high altar (1917, polychromed wood and marble, sculptor unknown, paintings A. Windhausen); the Joseph altar (1912, polychromed wood, sculpture by Thissen and Sons); the Mary altar (ca. 1920, polychromed wood); an oak pulpit (19th century, late); two oak confessionals (19th century, early); stations of the cross (20th century, early, Windhausen from Roermond) and several paintings (17th to 18th century); two Renaissance communion benches (17th century, early, from the Keizersbosch convent); a wooden Marian shrine (ca. 1525, Master of Elsloo ?); many polychromed wooden sculptures (from 15th century, late to 20th century, early); various wooden and copper crucifixes and processional crosses (16th century, early to 19th century, late); stained-glass windows in the choir and transepts (1947, Max Weiss from Roermond) and in the west facade (by Charles Eyck); and the new church organ (1981, Verschueren, from the St. Servaaskerk in Maastricht). Organ and organ case are not of value from the point of view of monument conservation.

Valuation.

The parish church Sint Martinus is of general importance. The object has cultural-historical values as a particular expression of the development and emancipation of Roman Catholicism at the beginning of the twentieth century. Furthermore, due to historical continuity, as the object continues a religious development which has been manifesting itself prominently at this location by means of a building for worship for centuries. The church is furthermore of importance for the typological development of village churches in the Limburgian Peel region.

The object has architectural and art-historical values due to the importance of the design principle applied by Franssen for the development history of neo-Gothic church building and due to the richly ornamented and high-quality inventory from various Limburgian workshops. The object has ensemble values as a distinctive component of the historical development at Church Square in Neer and is of particular significance for the appearance of the village by virtue of its distinctive and dominant position on a Maas terrace (especially in relation to the fairly open rural environment that has been preserved). The object is of importance due to the integrity of the preserved inventory and is rare due to the aforementioned urban planning situation.