Blacksmith restores blown-off cross from church ‘Het Bessie’: “Was a huge blow”

Originally this building was a Dutch Reformed Church in Lutjebroek. Today it houses a cultural building center and is popularly referred to as ‘Het Bessie’. The building was designed by D. van der Tas and completed in 1863.

Very important

The former church is of general interest because of its architectural-historical and cultural-historical value as a characteristic and partly intact example of a reformed church from the third quarter of the nineteenth century. Administrator Jaap Bruijn (71) has lived next door to the church for 31 years and, thanks to his wife, came into contact with managing the property. Bruijn has always been handy with his hands, but when the cross blew off the church tower on February 18, he was speechless for a while.

“It was a huge blow,” Bruijn remembers well. “The cross had fallen through a skylight and the rooster and orb were lying on the front steps.” The manager himself restored the rooster and the bulb. “Because of the fall there were cracks in it and I was able to weld them back together.”

Knowledge

The manager has some knowledge of soldering, but to restore an authentic cross from the year 1863, you have to be cut from a different kind of wood, sees blacksmith Jaap Broers of the Zuiderzee Museum.

“It is a real job to recreate this and when I look at the craftsmanship of the former cross, I am really impressed with the craftsmanship.” The blacksmith expects it to take about 80 hours in total and hopes to have the new cross finished for the former church in Lutjebroek around September.

When the cross is finished, a new challenge awaits: the more than 40 kilo heavy metal cross still has to be placed on the church tower. “We still have to think carefully about how we are going to achieve that,” concludes manager Jaap Bruijn. “It will have a nice price tag and there is not enough money from the foundation yet.”