I love Mechelen (nowadays in the Flemish speaking part of Belgium): it has such a friendly atmosphere. I didn't go there in search of statues, but as you'll see, I certainly found some. So I was fascinated to find that the statue of the Virgin and Child in Kingston Deverill church is cited as being Flemish, 14th century and probably from Mechelen cathedral.
On the right is St Rombouts cathedral in Mechelen (whence, it is suggested, came the Kingston Deverill Statue). There are many images and I think my personal favourite is this 16th century icon of 'Our Lady of Miracles', which is surrounded by the traditional Flemish "ex-voto" plaques giving thanks for favours granted.
The other cathedral is "the Basilica of Our Lady of Hanswijk". There was a church on that site from the 10th century. That building was demolished in 1578 and the present domed baroque church was designed in the 17th century. The Basilica of the Hanswijk houses the famous statue of the Virgin Mary that is carried in the 'Hanswijk' procession, a major focus of religious life in Mechelen. It was designated as a basilica when Pope John Paul II visited.
It's clear that the style of the statue at Kingston Deverill matches that of other early
Flemish Madonnas - these are easy to find. As well as the churches and cathedrals, many of the old town-houses feature a statue and a light on a prominent corner. Some are flat plaques in the stylised form of the Hanswijk madonna. It may be close to sacrilege to suggest that these plaques look something like a gingerbread, or to consider them as being "Our Lady of the Triangular Dress", but the good natured reverence for these images is very clear. Lest anyone should think that the tradition is dying, they're to be found on new apartments as well.
Mechelen has two Begijnhofs (Beguinages in French). They're both now hemmed in by other buildings in the same style as the ones that make it almost impossible to photograph St Rombouts (as you probably noticed). However, it is possible to get some idea of the atmosphere which must once have imbued the Grote Begijnhof, by walking round the four surrounding streets: the 'Jezuspoort', the 'Hoviusstraat', 'Fonteinstraat', 'Conventstraat' and 'Acht Zalighedenstraat'. Since first visitnig Mechelen, I've visited four of the surviving Flemish Begijnhofs. The modern-day nuns living in some of them are the inheritors ofa long tradition of Christian Mysticism.
Mechelen also boasts a Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, another reminder of the churches of the Deverills. The one in Mechelen is a baroque Jesuit church dating from 1669. It contains a collection of paintings and a magnificent pulpit. Two of the pulpits in the Deverill churches came from Flanders: that which remains, at Kingston Deverill, is probably a pale shadow of the other, which appears to have been more like the one at St Peter and St Paul.
This page was originally written in 1999 and a few helpful Flemish speakers made suggestions, for which many thanks. I've always wanted to go back, and in October 2001 we finally did. Hopefully the story of our return visit will repay a little of the kindness shown to us by the Flemish people.