From, Beautiful Buildings in France & Belgium, Including many which have been destroyed during the war. Reproductions in Colour and Monochrome from rare old Prints and Drawings, by and after Prout, Boys, Coney, W. Callow, David Roberts, C. Wild and others, with descriptive notes, by C. Harrison Townsend, F.R.I.B.A.; New York: The Hubbell Publishing Co., 1916; pp. 148-151.
ST. OMER : ABBEY OF ST. BERTIN
(J. Coney)
T. OMER is a small and somewhat uninteresting town lying in the middle of a flat and marshy district, a few miles from Calais. It nevertheless is happy in the possession of a fine church, the principal feature of which is the tower — an excellent and typical example of the late or transitional style. Its date is between the years 1431 and 1520, but some buttresses and a few of the arches of the nave are, beyond this tower, all that remain to us of the old church. Interesting remains of the ancient Benedictine abbey and its twenty-five gardens have lately been discovered.
150
The church now stands in a place, led up to by the streets made during the improvements to the town some fifty years ago.
The Plate is a good example of the work of John Coney, who, as an architect, had the advantage, in dealing with such subjects, of being able to invest them with true architectural value. His drawing gives expression to the intricate richness and beauty of the Abbey tower.
Copyright © 2007 by Elfinspell