Mary's wall

On the corner of the Meirseweg and the Auvers-sur-Oisestraat, which reminds us of the stay in France of the painting fellow villager Vincent van Gogh, we find a small wall that is a cross between a chapel and a cave. The masonry consists of natural stone blocks of different shapes and sizes. The thatched crossing rests on rough-hewn braces and is largely hidden from view by ivy that overgrows the whole. On the left, the wall is flanked by a brick column under a donkey's back. Behind an iron gate, in a niche against the end wall, there is an unsightly small plastic relief that depicts Mary with the child and replaces earlier statuettes that were repeatedly destroyed and stolen. Before the war, Mrs. van Ginneken-De Weert commissioned architect Frans Brockx to build this chapel wall in gratitude to Mary for recovery from illness. Although built on her land, the plot was sold to the cooperative Rabobank Zundert, which also became the owner of the chapel cave. Source: Along the Lord's Roads

Wim Blankers