Beguinage Turnhout, a beautiful example of dedicated housing provision

This ornate 17th-century entrance gate (left) gives access to the Beguinage of Turnhout. On the right-hand side two cottages were added to house the female gate keepers. The gatehouse itself gives access to the Beguinage via a wide underpass. From the entrance one immediately sees the Calvary that was erected in place of the old Beguinage Church.

On the inside of the Beguinage the tall gatehouse is quite striking. Above the gateway a large statue of Saint Begga sits in an alcove. On the right the so-called House of the Holy Spirit were provision for the poor was organised and destitute single women could find shelter.

Most of the houses in the Beguinage date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Some have a core dating back further, but little remains of the original wooden structures. The cottages are mostly two storeys with wooden shutters on the ground floor. All brick built houses have a cemented plinth. Some houses have retained their original sash windows (on the right).

The former bleachfield was, and still is, lined with cut lime trees. The Beguinage originally ended where the copper beach now stands where the Bospoort once stood. The open space emphasises the long stretched out shape of this Beguinage.

Behind the Calvary Group this chapel of Christ on the Rock (shown left) was erected around 1789. The Lourdes Cave is also a chapel, dedicated to the Holy Virgin, that was built on the other side of the bleachfield. It remembers the Apparitions of Marie Soubirous of 1858. It was completed in 1876. Many of these artificial caves (thus grottos) were built between 1860 and 1950 in the catholic parts of the Low Countries.

A view across the expanded Beguinage towards the baroque new Church. It was erected under the supervision of Beguinage Mistress Ann Bax between 1662 and 1667. This brick built place of worship is a rare survivor of the style, as most were remodelled later. This church dedicated to the Holy Cross is not orientated (to the east) but fills the space available with the choir on the west side.

The Chapel of the Holy Countenance was added in the nineteenth century. It fills a formerly open corner of the new section of the Beguinage. Across the kitchen garden some cottages were also erected in the late 1800s. These buildings have a distinctive more decorative style than the original cottages they try to emulate.  

Beyond the restored kitchen garden several houses were joined together. They include the former Convent of St Joseph visible in the middle here. In a convent several women or girls lived together. As such it is comparable to a religious convent, but beguines didn't take any wows and were free to leave should they want to. On the far left the house of Miss van Genechten, one of the most famous residents of the Beguinage of Turnhout. Its facade was altered in the nineteenth century.

At the site of the torn-down Beguinage Farm  this small orchard was planted in 1953 as the orchard beyond the wall belonging to the Beguinage was being developed for social housing. This 17th century pump graces the courtyard between the infirmary and the neighbouring terrace of cottages. It was important the infirmary had a steady supply of fresh water as many diseases came with contaminated water.

Beguinage Turnhout, living under ducal protection

The early-medieval settlement of Turnhout was located near a small stream on a crossroads of ancient routes. It was originally surrounded by woodland and copse, hence the name that translates as "thorny wood". Later the name was explained as Torenhout (Tower in the woods), because a hunting lodge of the Dukes of Brabant stood here from about 1080 AD. Duke Henry I of Brabant granted the settlement its city charter in 1212 and a large square market place was laid out near the older trade routes. In 1338 the town received its charter for a Saturday market. About a hundred years later the town had grown into an important settlement with no less than 5 churches and several convents. Much like Hoogstraten, the town was never secured by city walls, although a paling or wooden fence is likely erected around the freedom. This trade town also had a Beguinage where pious single women lived together in relative seclusion.

Much like the Beguinages in Lierre and Breda the Beguinage of Turnhout was located near a stronghold of the local lord. It is unclear when the Beguinage was first founded, but this is most probably in the latter half of the twelfth century - well before the first record in 1340. Both the close proximity to the caste of the Dukes of Brabant and the close involvement of several duchesses are strong indications of a strong link between the ducal overlord and the Beguinage. It was most likely founded on land granted by the duke on the edge of his chase or hunting forest directly north of the moated castle. The hunting forest was brought under cultivation, so by the 15th century only a small deer park (de Warande) remained. The 1777 Ferraris Map shows a formal layout with a star wood (sterrenbos) and a paling around it.

The Beguinage of Turnhout is located directly adjacent to this Warande. In 1372 Mary of Brabant, Duchess of Guelders and Mistress of Turnhout grants the Beguines several freedoms. Her sister Joanna affirms and expands these rights in 1399. At this time there already was an infirmary within the walled precinct. In 1415 the alter in a small church was consecrated. Several chapels followed (1418, 1419 and 1478). By 1480 the Beguinage comprised of 18 houses. By 1526 this number had grown to 28. A fire devastates a large part of the wooden Beguinage as well as part of the Warande in 1562. The Beguinage is slowly rebuilt in stone. In 1624 the small church is enlarged. Until 1642 the Beguinage reached just beyond the north gate.

From 1643 onwards the facility was greatly enlarged on the west side by a grant of over 1200 square yards of land by Philip IV of Spain. The enlargement was financed by the bequest of  a large landholding in 1656. A new church was erected in the new section of the Beguinage starting in 1662. By 1666 the church was completed with several new cottages for Beguines and a new infirmary. In 1693 a new convent (a type of shared accommodation) for destitute women was founded within the walled precinct by the Beguinage priest. Some 360 women lived within the Beguinage of Turnhout around 1700. This is quite amazing as the town of Turnhout had become less important with the secession of the Northern Netherlands in 1581 which lead to many of the merchants, cloth makers and weavers resettling in Tilburg within the new Dutch Republic. The women within the Beguinage made their living by teaching French and home economics in private schools and by making lace.

The Beguinage now comprises of 80 cottages and houses. It is a Beguinages of the square type with at the centre a large garden come bleachfield that was planted as an ornamental garden in the 19th century. The first building phase (F1) in the east, with an expansion in the 1600s (F2). Originally 3 gates of which two remain (g). the central space was used as a bleaching field (b) with at the site of the old church a Calvary Statue (1796 - c) and at the site of the former Bospoort (= Wood Gate) the Lourdes Grotto (1876 - lg). Begind the Beguine Church (BC) a kitchen garden (kg) has been recreated. Directly north a small orchard (o) remains. The Chapel of the Holy Countenance (Heilig Aanzicht - HA) was built in the corner of the new precinct in 1885. Similarly a chapel belonging to the Friars of Love for Jesus built their school and chapel directly adjacent. The Chapel Corpus Cristianorum (CC) can be reached through an alley from inside the Beguinage. Next to the main gate two gate keeper cottages (1) were built. Probably the oldest part of the Beguinage is at the House of the Holy Spirit (2) aimed at providing care for destitute women. Further along the Convent of St Anne functioned as a boarding school for girls. In contrast the Convent of St Joseph (5) provided rooms for new beguines or novices. The Foundation Mermans (5) used to house destitute women from around Turnhout. It is now in use a s a museum. The second infirmary (6) was built to replace the burnt down earlier facility (located west of 2). Within the confines of the Beguinage a Rectory (7) was built in 1648. This is unique as the male priest was as a rule not allowed to reside in a Beguinage.  

After a short period (1795-1818) under French rule when all religious institutions were banned, the Beguinage never reached its 18th century peak. After 1950 the Beguinage declined. It is now owned by the City of Turnhout. The Public Centre for Social Welfare (OCMW) now rents out most of the cottages, other houses have been sold as lease-hold properties. In this way the Beguinage still serves its original propose of making decent accommodation within the city available to people of modest means. Directly north of the Beguinage on the site of a former orchard and meadow belonging to the Beguines a Housing Society built a small ensemble of social housing known as the Saint Begga Quarter around the Beggaplein (BP)  in the first half of the 1950s. On the edge of these so-called Beguine Fields (Begijnevelden - BV) the Lazar House (Pesthuis) once stood.

Beguinage Hoogstraten, providing housing for women of good virtue

The rectory cottages include the former house of the mistress of the gates. These houses stand next to the entrance via the main gate from the Freedom. They were built on the footings of a much older house belonging to the chaplain of the town church. The site was attached to the Beguinage when the new gate was made in 1533.

The baroque church of the Beguinage was built across the old back street in line with the new main gate on the Freedom. The former chapel has become buried underneath the altar of this replacement church. The frontage is both austere and decorative with an elongated neck gable with composite bell gable and pediment. The inside of this small church is light and pleasant The high windows of the central nave flood the space with light

The Old Court was expanded westward beyond the former wall that stood along the backstreet. These low cottages from the late 1500s can be seen across the forma garden in front of the church.

Behind the church the old pump remains. This small communal water pump was used for both drinking water and washing. The Beguines here also did laundry for the townspeople. The old wall has been restored an runs around the whole of the Beguinage. In some places narrow alleyways run between the cottages and the outer wall. 

The Old Court was the first section of the Beguinage of Hoogstraten. Originally is consisted of a bleachfield with an herb garden and some cottages around it. The edges were filled-inn over the centuries by adding more cottages. The high building in the back is the infirmary. The two-storey building on the left is the old House of Kuijk.

Prior to 1795 when the French rulers introduced a land registrar, street names and house numbers, all houses has a name to distinguish them from one another. So all cottages now have numbers, but the original names still remain. Each door has the name of that Beguine cottage in white letters. The name of the cottage on the left translates as Church Council. The name of the cottage on the right translates as The Quires of Angles.

The New Court was added in 1635. It was intended as a mirror of the Old Court with a row of cottages on either side of a central lawn used for bleaching cloth. This court was never finishes. On the north side the old wall with the cottages of the Old Court forms the perimeter. This former orchard remained in use as such to this day.

The cottages on the New Court are higher and more uniform as they were built in a decade or two. The money was provided by a bequest of a peat merchant, hence these cottages are known as the peat cottages. This small gate forms the back access to the New Court.

Between the Old and New Courts two rows of cottages stood until 1935. These were torn down, supposedly to make way for a vegetable garden. Now these formal borders have been planted here instead. By taking these cottages down the two courts become more pronounced separate entities. Demolishing buildings to improve on an historic situation (and thus destroying part of the history of a place) was done very often between 1900 and 1950.

Beguinage Hoogstraten, an important facility in a small town

Originally the area now known as Hoogstraten was a part of Rijkevorsel. It was likely settled from that place.  Hoogstraten is first recorded when in 1212 Henry I Duke of Brabant grants the settlement a freedom charter. The name literally mans Highstreet and reflects the old trade route linking Mechlin and Breda via Lierre along a river dune of the river Mark. The street was widened to accommodate a market place (called Vrijheid or Freedom, which indicates that this place was exempt from feudal laws). Around this Freedom the most important functions aggregated (e.g. Church, Shops and Town Hall). The oldest settlement, incidentally, lay further west at the Heuvelstraat, another higher point.

The historic importance of this town is clear from the presence of the manorial castle on the Mark(XIII), a watermill (XII), a hospital (XIII), a Beguinage (XIV), a Convent of the Order of St Clare (XV), the Church of St Catherine (XVI), Town Hall (XVI), Augustinian Monastery (XVII) and Monastery of the Franciscan Friars Minor (XVII). The land of Hoogstraten -a manorial fief-  became a county before 1530. In 1602 the troubles that would lead to the secession of the northern Netherlands hit the town hard. The town recovered due to the proximity of the border within the Low Countries which was very conducive to trade. In 1740 the count of Hoogstraten was elevated to duke. All feudal rights were dissolved by the French take-over in 1795 and the Low Countries would be modernised in about a decade of foreign rule.

The Beguinage of Hoogstraten has survived during the troubled history of the town. The first mention of the Nieu Begijn-hof (New Beguinage) is in a 1380 charter when John III of Kuik, lord of Hoogstraten grants the beguines full ownership of a homestead against a yearly tributary and the right to erect a chapel and build a cemetery. This charter could be a legalisation of a spontaneous commune of women, or the actual first step in founding a Beguinage. In 1382 the 13 Beguines a given the right to live separately in a so-called convent (a walled enclosure). In 1415 the Beguinage is enlarged. By the year 1432 the Beguinage had become a separate parish.

A raging fire destroys all of the wooden Beguinage in 1506 but the brick chapel is left standing. The Beguinage is rebuilt in stone. In 1533 a new gate is created on the Freedom. Around 1635 the new court is attached; before this area had been an orchard. In 1680 building work starts on the present baroque Beguine Church. Some older alcove chapels still remain in the wall around the Beguinage. The Beguinage was aimed at providing a living environment for poor women of good virtue. As such this Beguinage differs from the more urban types that were aimed at single noble women. The Beguinage of Hoogstraten is of the square type and consists of two connected grass courts with cottages on either side. The Beguinage is completely enclosed by a high brick wall with three gates and a main gate opposite the church on the Freedom, the towns market square.

In 1604 the Beguinage of Hoogstraten is markedly smaller in size with a main gate (P) on the 's Boschstraat (SB) near the former homestead House of Kuijk (H) that formed the basis of this Beguinage. On the edge a Novices House (N), infirmary (I) and Chapel of St. Joseph (K) were located near the former gate on the Achterstraat -literally Backstreet (A) that once ran parallel to the Vrijheid (V) the central market place of this free town. The Leemstraat (L) that connected to the Achterstraat is the old route before the straight new road with freedom charter was built.

After serious neglect in the nineteenth century  several cottages were demolished in 1900 and again in 1935. The remaining Beguinage was restored in 1996 and has UNESCO Heritage status and the highest conservation status possible in Belgium. The Beguinage of Hoogstraten is still a large example of the type. It is still lived in by single women en widows who can rent accommodation from the local council. The beautiful church is still in use especially for weddings and christenings.

The present Beguinage after extensive restoration has a main entrance on the Freedom (1). The old entrance (2) was reopened. At the herat of the Beguinage we find the Beguinage Church (3) with behind it the Oude Erf or Old Court (4). The New Court (5) was only developed on the south side with the so-called peat cottages (7) between the Gate of Mary (6) and the communal barn (8). These cottages take their name from a peat merchant who funded these houses. Two rows of cottages (9) were demolished to make room for a vegetable garden.