The
catholic church of Uithuizen marked the beginning of neo-Gothic in the
province of Groningen, incidently the same province where the last
Gothic church of the Netherlands was built, in
Harkstede
in 1692. The church was designed by J.F. Scheepers, who was town
architect of Groningen and as a rule was not allowed to accept
assignments such as this one.
The church was probably largely
modelled after the Redemptorist church in Amsterdam that was built in
the early 1850's and had been designed by Th. Molkenboer. Both churches
are more or less in true Gothic proportions, while inside there's only
imitation Gothic; both for instance feature purely decorative vaults
made of wood, reed and plaster. The most obvious difference between the
two churches is that the one in Uithuizen has a tower. Although this
tower was built from the ground up, it is mostly integrated in the
facade while its upper part has the proportions of the wooden towers
previously built on the roofs of churches in neo-Classical style.
In 1938 the exterior was simplified
and many ornaments, like pinnacles, were removed. In 1957 the interior
was simplified as well, and all pillars were replaced by thinner ones.
