Beguinage Lierre: the legacy of medieval housing provision

The Gate of Saint Begga gives access to the Beguinage from the Begijnenstraat (Beguine Street). This patron saint of People who Stutter, was linked to the Beguines by virtue of the likeness in name. The Beguines actually took their name from Lambert le Bègue (Lambert the Stutterer) although this radical twelfth-century priest from Liège wasn't involved in founding the movement. From the gate (1690) one enters the Wezenstraat (Orphan Street) with on the right the oldest cottages of the Beguinage in Lierre. The street was named for a facility for orphaned girls at the end of the street opposite the Infirmary. Directly next to this gate the (female) gatekeeper resided as the gates closed every evening at nine.

A view of the former graveyard with the Church of Saint Margaret (1667) at its centre. This building replaced an older -smaller- church that was built in place of the stone house granted to the beguines by the Duchess of Brabant in 1261.It has an impressive baroque interior. Opposite the west wing of the Infirmary built in 1755-66 with the large gate that gives access to the large inner courtyard. The present large infirmary replaced a much smaller set-up consisting of a block of three adjoining houses next to the "Red Gate" that were used as the first infirmary of the Beguinage.

Next to the church some Quinces have been planted. The bell tower atop the church was added later (1767). The narrow streets are rather straight and have always been paved. The houses along the streets were either built directly on the street or away from it resulting in a variable streetscape.

The paved square around the church is called Oude Kerkhof (literally: Old Church Yard) and was used as the graveyard of the Beguinage. The oldest houses were built around this graveyard with a small church. Most of the houses now standing are from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, although remnants of buildings from some 2oo years before also remain within the present building substance.

Narrow alleys connected the central Rechtestraat with the Bleachfields on the outer moat. In the background the planned houses along this Grachtkant (Moat Side) from the 18th century are visible. The alleys are characterised by side gables and garden walls.

Some of the cottages were originally built at some distance from the road. Later a new street (Nieuwstraat now Symforastraat) was built across the orchard behind and developed for housing. As house numbers hadn't been introduced yet (these came to Belgium with Napoleon) all houses were named. This row of seventeenth century houses have poetic names i.e. Wijngaart des Heeren (The Lords Vineyard), St Bruno, St Christoffel and Maria Visitatie (Visitation of Mary).

The New Convent or Furthest Convent (Achterste Convent - 1595) wasn't a true convent but a dormitory for young women. It was located beyond the former south gate, hence the name and comprises of three separate houses later knocked into an L-shaped building next to the gate on the city wall (shown on the right).

The Symphorastraat was developed in the 14th century. The buildings on the left side of the street have partly been torn down and added as garden space to houses on the Margaretastraat. At the end the narrow alleyway of Piepenholleke (Peek-through Little Hole) was demolished in 1830 and added as gardens to the adjoining houses.

The 18th century development on the former Bleachfield of the Beguines is a regular development of identical houses with an identical floor plan. A low store is part of a new defensive structure here that once joined the outer moat. This stone gate (shown right) was built at the end of the Grachtkant next to the Infirmary.