Monastery Muscles - Belgium

Derelict Places

Help Support Derelict Places:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.

UrbanX

Moderate Moderator
Joined
Apr 2, 2007
Messages
7,543
Reaction score
8,163
Location
Cambridge
This was to be our last stop of the ‘Brown Bus’ tour. We stopped off on a miserable, grey morning on our way back to take the ferry through the Eurotunnel.
I recently found out that this monastery was home to “The Order of Saint Bernard’s” which cracked me up imagining loads of those Dulux dogs dressed in monks habits. No? Just me? OK then on with the report:

History:
During the 1840’s anticlericalism persisted in France and this group of nuns foresaw the possibility of trouble with the authorities. This led them to found ‘refuge’ communities, this was the first one just over the border in Belgium and was completed in 1883.

Like most second albums are always a bit of a let down, the next refuge to be completed was in Slough.

IMG_2839_zpslnovtfdt.jpg

The explore:
I generally explore buildings top down, so naturally started in the attic spaces which were silent and dark, with just the first hint of the day starting to shine in.

IMG_2794_zpszrvtbvnx.jpg

IMG_2796_zpsyqevhyrz.jpg

Next up, the chapel. Half expecting to get busted at any moment, I thought I’d get the money shots in early. Weirdly the chapel seemed way more derelict than the rest of the building and was a bit of a let down.
IMG_2798_zps2zg83jl7.jpg

IMG_2801_zps74wc64v2.jpg

IMG_2802_zpschfhzo6b.jpg

IMG_2808_zpsjthcd052.jpg

IMG_2811_zpsdnaxhq3d.jpg

IMG_2806_zpsyurro9bg.jpg

We’d seen on a Youtube video there was a bar in the basement, so this was the next natural stop:
IMG_2820_zps3zmyj5co.jpg

IMG_2830_zpsacikblhr.jpg

Cheers for looking:
 
I laughed at the Slough comment!

Is that a tarmac loft? I can't for the life of me suss what the flooring actually is.
Looks a beautiful building though. Lack of water ingress is helping it survive.
 
Nice set of images. Just one point - the 'Dulux' dogs were not St Bernards, they were Old English Sheep Dogs and first appeared in the add in 1960. The two breeds have completely different traits; the Old English having a natural herding/round up ability, whilst the St Bernard has a very keen sense of smell and huge paws, capable of digging out people buried in snow drifts.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top