Old school - Celles

"Old school" ... there are a number of buildings in Celles worthy of the name ...

25 years later, after the French Revolution, which largely destroyed l'Hermitage, in 1818 , the restoration of the site was planned with a view to the establishment of the municipal primary school.

In 1850, the provincial inspector of primary education asked to move the local school to another location for various reasons. On October 19, 1856, the municipality exchanged a new house in Celles, built in 1848 (now restaurant "le val joli" - on the roof of which you can still see the bell.) for the buildings of the hermitage with the Count of Liedekerke- Beaufort (then mayor). This house became the boys' school, while in 1858 the first sisters of Saint-Vincent de Paul arrived in the hermitage and opened their classes in 1859.

In 1876, plans were made to build a new school because the school is only 5 meters from the cemetery, it is too cramped and there is no courtyard, playground, washing area and urinals.
After a preliminary design in the shepherd's garden (opposite Val Jolie), we opted for new construction in Bel-Air in 1905, with housing for the teacher and a community center. The school will open at the beginning of the 1912 school year

On the eve of the merger of the municipalities in 1976, the last municipal council of Celles bought the hermitage from the Count of Liedekerke-Beaufort and opened a kindergarten there. In 1986 a restoration took place and a new mixed primary school was built at the back. The Bel-Air school closed its doors in April 1986 when students returned to the vault and was sold the following year.

Willem Vandenameele