Allerheiligst Sacrement

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

R.c. CHURCH Allerheiligst Sacrament from 1938-39 in the style of Traditionalism (Bossche School) based on Romanesque church architecture, designed by architect ir. H. Thunnissen of the architectural office Thunnissen en Hendricks in 's Gravenhage in collaboration with J.Th. v. Rossem in Delft. The baptistery chapel on the north-east side, which is connected to the church by a connecting link, dates from the nineteen-sixties, as do the stations of the cross in mosaic. The glass-in-concrete of the chapel and the stations were designed by Peter Wiegersma. The chapel itself was built by Fa. Kerklaan from Delfgauw designed by architect Hekker. To the left and right of the priest's choir are two statues, depicting St. Joseph (patron saint of the church with a church building in his hand) and St. Paul (with a sword and a scroll, which symbolise his epistles). The altar furnishings date from 1976. To the left of the choir is a foundation stone from 1939 with the text: "Me Posuit J.L. Dankelman Decanus A.D. VIII KAI AUG MCMXXXIX.

The large marble statue of Mary Assumed into Heaven was made in Genoa, has been in the Netherlands since 1818 and has been on loan to the church since 1940 by the Bishops' Museum Haarlem. The two reliefs in majolica depicting the Mother of Perpetual Help and the Mother of Good Counsel are by H. Etienne, as is a crucifix group of oak wood from 1941 with a Mary and John figure from 1946. At the back of the church is the statue of St. Anthony (with a monstrance).

Description

The church is a closed pseudo-basilica with a robust tower rising from a composite, roughly trapezoidal floor plan and consists of a composite, asymmetrical building volume. The floor plan steps inward and thus follows the plot that widens toward the east. The nave is subdivided into a section of three bays and a wider section of four bays, under an extended roof plane. On both roof planes there are two roof dormers clad in zinc. In front of the tall nave under a gabled roof is a lower, narrower, three-bay-long volume. This also has a gabled roof and is intersected by the projecting tower. Furthermore, one-storey building volumes under lean-to roofs are realised in the angles of the main volumes. On the south-west side of the nave, some of these ancillary volumes with flat roof and wooden gutter have been built, which serve various functions - including the sacristy and confessional spaces. On the east side there is a lower, one-bay-long volume under a gabled roof. The semi-circular choir is connected to it and has a roof with overhang and seven roof tiles. On the north-east side there is a hexagonal chapel with a copper roof, which is connected to the main volume by a connecting link. At the property boundary there is a brick wall along Simonsstraat, against which a free-standing transformer building of one storey is constructed. This transformer building has a flat roof with overhang on wooden blocks.

The building is constructed in yellow-grey brick in English bond with a clear joint. The low tuff header course is closed with a roll course. In the side facades, small brick mosaics in three different patterns are placed at regular intervals at eye level. The copings, corner stones and drip mouldings of the small pointed-arch windows are made of artificial stone. The drip mouldings of the standing pointed-arch windows consist of rounded roof tiles. In the tower they are of brick. The round windows have a header course all around, which above and below is executed as a small rooster comb, or are provided with a natural stone drip gutter. The overhanging gutters with gutter brackets consist of concrete.

The 25-metre-high tower has sounding holes in the lower sections. At the top there are series of three round-arch windows on each side. The facades are closed with mortared round-arch friezes. The mortared, hexagonal spire is crowned by a tufa stone, spherical element with a Latin cross on top. The main entrance in the north-west facade (front facade) consists of an internal porch with robust corner stones. The double door is also heavily framed with artificial stone blocks. A high stretch is closed with a keystone, on which a pelican feeding its young with its own blood is depicted in relief. The doors have iron fittings and hinges and copper kick plate, are provided with a pane of glass (in the form of a square placed on its point), and have an extensive pattern of moulded strips. This pattern consists of squares placed on their point and runs across the two doors. The other entrances, namely two side entrances in the side facades and two side entrances in two of the one-storey annexes, consist of a shallow internal porch with steps that offset inward. In front of the entrances are mortared stoops with two steps. Artificial stone blocks, a stretch with artificial stone set-back and keystone and, as a closure, an overhanging drip moulding enrich the entrance. The keystone is extended to form a robust, tooled rooster comb at the entrances in the side facades. The keystone is absent in the entrances of the ancillary volumes. The mortared pilasters, which are closed at the top with an artificial stone block, accentuate the bay width and support the vertical rhythm of the narrow pointed-arch windows. Each bay contains three elongated pointed-arch windows with leaded glass. The gable facades are largely blank, with the exception of the facades of the one-storey building volumes. These facades contain respectively round windows or entrances.

In the choir there are low-placed crypt windows.

The virtually intact interior has largely retained its original layout. Above the entrance porch is the organ gallery. Nave and side aisles are beneath a single roof plane and are separated by columns with cube-like capitals and rectangular columns, on which the iron roof trusses rest. The simple steel profiles are riveted. Nave and choir are separated by brick walls with pointed-arch shaped openings with multiple roll courses. The roof is boarded with pine sections. The extra space created by the stepped floor plan is not incorporated into the church space but is used to accommodate, among other things, the confessional spaces. The walls in Flemish bond are closed at the top with a mortared decorative moulding. The stained glass windows in the raised choir are dedicated to the Holy Trinity, to saints including Thomas Aquinas, St. Clare and St. Juliana of Cornillon. In the church furthermore a travertine tile floor, the original bench layout and oak benches, confessionals with arched doors with leaded glass panes, organ gallery in wood enriched with carved sections, access to gallery access closed with wrought-iron railings. Former sacristy with boiler room below. Organ and organ case are not of value from the point of view of monument protection.

Valuation

The r.c. church Allerheiligst Sacrament from 1938/39 by architect Thunnissen is of general interest for its cultural and architectural-historical value

- as an expression of a religious function and because of the historical-functional relationship between the buildings;

- as an example of the building style, namely Traditionalism and because of the high degree of integrity of the main form, detailing, material use and interior.

The church building has urban-planning value because of its prominent location at Poortlandplein and because of the spatial-functional and visual relationship with the parish house and the former patronage building.