Page 29 - LOTN Issue 45

FAITH AND CULTURE

Oot an Aboot

with Ron Smith

The grand entrance to Park Abbey
Leuven's Park Abbey as it was, but it still has its water mill (from 1534) for grinding

grain, the ponds for fish, the herb garden - herbs were used as
Ron's travels have been rather curtailed due to the present medicine, the orchard and fields for crops.
pandemic, but it has given him time to reflect on a fascinating The Abbey had a carillon of 40 bells. It must have been
trip he once made to Leuven in Belgium, the site of Park Abbey marvellous to hear. In the 19th century the carillon was moved
which is the subject of an ambitious restoration project. to the centre of the city. It was then destroyed by the fires
of the German army in WW l but new bells have now been
Almost in the middle of Belgium there is the town installed.
of Leuven, in the Dutch speaking part of the country. There is not just the Abbey though - there is also the marvellous
It has a great many interesting attractions for the visitor, Parcum museum. This houses an exhibition which illustrates the
but probably the jewel in the crown is the magnificent abbey. dialogue between religious art and culture. You can easily spend
The abbey was founded in 1129 by Duke Godfrey, surnamed a couple of hours here looking at some wonderful objects that
"Barbatus" ("the Bearded"), who possessed an immense park have never seen the light of day for over 500 years! The Abbey
near Leuven had invited the Norbertines to take possession of owns so many precious things that they could never have been
a small church he had built there. At its height it covered 3,400 displayed together before but now they are all on show in 800
hectares, so as you can imagine it is not in the middle of the square metres of space. When the Abbey is fully restored the
city! Today it covers 42 hectares. To get there you can take a Parcum will have 2000 square metres of space making it a world
bus, walk (about half an hour) or even better cycle - it is all flat class centre for religious art.
of course. One of the first items to strike you is a huge crucifix. It was
To put it in context, this part of Belgium never experienced
the vandalism of the Reformation, so we have continuity over
the centuries. The Abbey was a powerhouse of culture and
education. The monks were the few people who could read
and write. Until the printing press arrived, books would be
laboriously copied out by hand by the monks. They provided
education for the ordinary people, health care, and were very
advanced in agriculture.
The Abbey is a collection of large buildings spread over quite
an area. You enter along a cobbled roadway through a large gate
house, and the urban noise dies away and peace descends. You
walk past the wagon house and the tithe barn dating from 1633.
It is amazing to see these centuries-old buildings still in use and
still cared for. However, it has taken many years and a lot of
money to bring the various buildings back to their present state.
In October 2017 there was a grand opening of the Abbey but
the restoration work is not finished. This is very apparent when
you walk out into the square garden that is surrounded by the
buildings of the monastery. One side is gleamingly restored, the
other is in a bad state of repair and is next in line for restoration.
It will be 2025 before the work is completed - provided the
money is available and the work does not over-run. This is a
common problem when you are dealing with such elderly
buildings. You never know quite what you will find when you
strip them back to bare brick, plaster or timber.
As I mentioned earlier, the Abbey is nowhere near as extensive St Martin of Tours gives away half his cloak

Page 29