Jozefkerk

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 KRUISKERK on the Hessenweg in Achterveld, the Roman Catholic parish church of St. Joseph, was built in 1932-33 by architect H.W. Valk from 's-Hertogenbosch in Romanesque Revival style. In his design, Valk was inspired by the old abbey churches in South France. Other buildings in a comparable style by Valk stand in Doetinchem, Haalderen near Nijmegen and in Brabant. The church was erected on the site of the dilapidated hall church from 1845. On 21 July 1932 the tender took place. The work was awarded to the Gebr. Struyken. The church's patron was pastor G. Bentinck. The solemn consecration of the church took place on 20 July 1933 by His Excellency Mgr. J.B.H. Jansen. A deed in the sacristy commemorates this. The stained glass windows and the stations of the cross by Charles Eyck were executed in the workshop of Joep Nicolas. The ironwork, namely the hinges and the gate for the baptistry, was by J. and A. Bourgogne. The high altar is a design by Jan Eley and Leo Brom. In the altar were enclosed the reliquaries of the Holy Martyrs Monastinus, Proba and Verecunda, originating from the old church. The wooden statues of St. John the Baptist and of St. John of Nepomuc likewise come from the old church. The communion rail from the workshop of Brom was installed in 1938. In May 1940 the church was damaged by an attack by the Dutch Artillery from Amersfoort on the Germans who were stationed in Achterveld. Notably the tower, the baptistry and the chapel with the access to the choir were destroyed. In the same year restoration work was carried out. In 1943 the three bronze bells were stolen. These were replaced in 1947 by three bells by Petit and Fritsen. In the hall of the reception room the tower clock from the old church was installed. After the Second World War the church was further embellished. Through donations the church acquired two small statues of Mary and a statuette of God the Father presenting His Son to the world, all from 1425. The organ, designed by Dr. Caecillianus Huygens o.f.m., director of the archiepiscopal music school in Utrecht and built by the firm B. Pels and Zn. from Alkmaar, installed in 1948, is of secondary importance. The marble altar table placed on a black marble base and the existing communion rail with bronze panels likewise date from this period. The most important church ornaments come from the workshops of Ad. Roosendaal from Utrecht and Jan Eloy and Leo Brom and date from 1949. The design for the marriage pew likewise comes from the workshop of Brom and was made by Harry van Rossum from Hilversum. The Sacred Heart statue is by sculptor Piet Jongblut from Bilthoven. In the chapel of Mary of Perpetual Succour a bronze representation of a blooming rose bush was placed in 1951 on the south side by the Gebr. Brom. The stained glass windows from the chapel of Mary by Charles Eyck have been preserved elsewhere in the church. An important modification to the exterior took place in 1954. The priest choir was enlarged at that time, with the stairs at the sides being removed and provided with a new frame by Brom. The roof of the church was renewed in the early nineties. At the location of the vicarage a modern church centre was built in 1990. The altar table, the communion rail provided with bronze panels as well as the bronze rose bush and the church pews are not protected given their limited heritage value.

Description

The parish church of St. Joseph, surrounded by a garden, is located at the corner of the Hessenweg and the Jan van Arkelweg in the centre of Achterveld. The church on a cruciform ground plan is built in large hand-formed brick (cloisters bricks) in wild bonding. The pointed arch windows are provided with natural stone tracery and stained glass windows. The roof consists of a combination of gabled roofs and hipped roofs of different ridge and gutter heights and is covered with red Romanesque tiles. At the height of the crossing is a massive crossing tower under a hipped roof. On the west side a squat tower under a low hipped roof surrounded by a bricked balustrade is placed. The nave and both transept arms are provided with gabled roofs. With the transept arms the roof consists of two parts differing in ridge and gutter height. The side aisles of the nave and transept arms have half-hipped roofs. The three-sided closed apse is covered with a hipped roof. The entrance portal for the west tower has a half-hipped roof. On the north side of the nave is the protruding baptistry and on the south side a chapel of Mary of Perpetual Succour, both under a continuous roof shield of the gabled roof of the nave. On the southeast side of the church the sacristy with adjacent rooms is built on, provided with gabled roofs. The west tower, provided with a bricked, open balustrade and on the right a stair tower, consists of three tiers and is embellished by tall narrow blind panels and a loophole on each side. In the first tier is the protruding entrance portal with a semicircular opening. Within the portal with benches on either side is a double semicircular door placed which gives access to the church. The second tier contains above the portal a window. The stair tower is provided with blind panels with small light slits. The side chapels have a window on each side. In the side aisles are two windows and in the low clerestory three windows. In the end gable of the transept arms are two windows placed with a blind panel on either side. At the apse between cut-off buttresses a window is placed on each side. In the corners of the nave and the transept arms are small side portals. The interior of the church, executed in fair-faced brickwork, is rather dark with the exception of the crossing, from which, through three windows on each side of the tower, the light falls on the high altar (priest choir). The church has bricked barrel vaults. The broad pointed arch splay arches between nave, transept and side aisles are supported by natural stone pillars. Above the entrance on the west side is the organ gallery. The organ is not of value from the point of view of heritage preservation. The organ case, made by Rutter and originating from the old church, is of value from the point of view of heritage preservation. On the altar is a crucifix with Mary and John on either side placed and a set of six candlesticks. In the baptistry, enclosed by an iron screen, stands a natural stone font with double basin, closed by a bronze cover. The stained glass windows are provided with baptism representations. The profiled steel bell frame with three bell-ropes have diameters of 104, 87 and 78 cm respectively. The three blue clock faces are made of red copper with gilded Arabic numerals and hands. The out-of-service tower clock from the old church is installed in the hall.

Valuation

The church is of general interest because of its cultural and architectural-historical value as a complete and characteristic example, both in terms of exterior and interior components, of a Roman Catholic cruciform church in Romanesque Revival style, built in 1932 according to the design of architect H.W. Valk, as well as because of valuable interior elements by the visual artists Charles Eyck, Jan and Leo Brom from the building period and later. Furthermore, the church is of situational value because of its prominent location in the centre of Achterveld.