Rectory in Middelbeers
Next to the St. Willibrordus Church, built in 1927, stands a Roman Catholic rectory dating from 1863, bordered on two sides by an old moat. Access to the rectory lies behind a bridgehead and an old cast-iron gate from 1865 with volutes. A volute is a curlicue or spiral decoration characteristic of the capital of an Ionic column.
An original stone plaque on the south side records the laying of the foundation stone. The following text in Dutch can be read on the stone:
DE EERSTE STEENEN / VAN DIT GEBOUW ZIJN GELEGD / DOOR HET R.C. KERKBESTUUR / D.W.E.H.J. AARTS PASTOOR / J. BOSCH EN J. VENNIX / KERKMEESTERS / 14-4-1863.
(The foundation stones / of this building were laid / by the Roman Catholic Church Council / D.W.E.H.J. Aarts pastor / J. BOSCH and J. VENNIX / Church wardens/ 14-4-1863)
In …
Next to the St. Willibrordus Church, built in 1927, stands a Roman Catholic rectory dating from 1863, bordered on two sides by an old moat. Access to the rectory lies behind a bridgehead and an old cast-iron gate from 1865 with volutes. A volute is a curlicue or spiral decoration characteristic of the capital of an Ionic column.
An original stone plaque on the south side records the laying of the foundation stone. The following text in Dutch can be read on the stone:
DE EERSTE STEENEN / VAN DIT GEBOUW ZIJN GELEGD / DOOR HET R.C. KERKBESTUUR / D.W.E.H.J. AARTS PASTOOR / J. BOSCH EN J. VENNIX / KERKMEESTERS / 14-4-1863.
(The foundation stones / of this building were laid / by the Roman Catholic Church Council / D.W.E.H.J. Aarts pastor / J. BOSCH and J. VENNIX / Church wardens/ 14-4-1863)
In 2002, the building was designated a national monument. It is a perfectly preserved example of 19th-century architecture. It symbolizes the development of village rectoriesin the region and the history and influence of Catholicism in this area. The rectory was built with handmade bricks and slates/ These were widely used in the south and west of the Netherlands and were transported via the Meuse River.I
In 1938, a connecting passageway to the church was created, originally built in 1927 by the Eindhoven architect Louis Kooken (1867–1940).
The rectory has been continuously occupied since 1863. The last resident pastor left in 2007. He was buried in 2008 with the Montfortian Fathers on the Groot Bijstervelt Estate in Oirschot.