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Terheijden (NB): St. Antonius Abt

 

 

 The St. Antonius Abt was founded in the 15th century. At first, probably a wooden church was built. This may have lasted for about a century, or it may have been replaced by another wooden church. Certain is that work on the current church only began well after its founding.
First parts built was the tower, which was completed in the 15th century. The choir and transept were built in c. 1500. The nave was built around its wooden predecessor in 1542-1546. 
After the Eighty Years War, in 1648, the church was confiscated by the new protestant authorities and handed over to the protestant minority. In c. 1800, a few years after a French invasion made an end to protestant rule, it was returned to the catholics. In 1820 it was restored. At this time the transept was renewed and new portals were added.
Another restoration followed in 1876-1878 by P.J.H. Cuypers. He replaced the wooden barrel-vaults of the choir, transept and side-aisles by stone ones and added a wooden segment to the tower. In 1922 a fire destroyed all of Cuypers' changes.His son J.Th.J. Cuypers repaired the damage. The lost vaults were  replaced by wooden ones. The neo-Gothic sacristy at the south side of the choir was without a doubt added by one of these architects, but when is not known.
At the end of World War Two the roofs and the stair-turret of the tower were destroyed. In 1949 all damage was repaired.

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