History

The existence of a parish in Jaszkotle was first noted in written sources back in 1309. The current church, designed in the Gothic style, was erected in 1473, as evidenced by the date and stonemason’s mark placed on the keystone which adorns the vaulted ceiling inside the chancel. Having been taken over by the Protestants somewhere around the year 1532, the church subsequently underwent extension works which involved the broadening of the nave and the addition of a northern porch and chapel with a gallery and a designated sitting area for the benefactors of the church. The church was reclaimed by the Catholic community in 1653 and was subsequently redesigned in the Baroque style. After 1723, the nave received its false vaulted ceiling of the cloister type, with a flat centre section. The windows of the nave and chancel were widened, while a new patrons’ gallery opening towards the chancel was added inside the tower above the sacristy. In addition, a new pipe organ gallery as well as the northern gallery were erected.

In the years 1891-92, the church underwent a comprehensive restoration. The interior was refurbished and the western gable was completely reconstructed, with the existing western porch replaced by a new one. In 1934, the tower, church roof and porch underwent renovation. In 1976, further restoration works were carried inside the church. In 1999, two new bells were suspended inside the tower after the existing structure supporting the existing bell, cast in 1642, was appropriately reinforced.

The church is surrounded with a fortified cemetery which was most likely established in the late 16th century, its perimeter wall undergoing alteration and renovation works both during the 17th and the 18th century as well as in years 1893-94.

Description

Situated at the outskirts of the village, the church is surrounded with a cemetery circumscribed by a brick curtain wall with a pair of gates, its surface punctuated with a row of narrow embrasures. The south-western gate is topped with a decorative parapet.

The church is oriented towards the east; it is a brick structure, its walls reinforced with buttresses. Parts of the walls feature the use of overburnt brick. Designed on a roughly square floor plan, the single-nave church features a narrower, rectangular chancel adjoined by a sacristy on its northern side, above which rises a quadrangular tower topped with a tall pyramid roof and containing, among others, a patrons’ gallery which opens towards the chancel. A rectangular annex, added after 1532 and containing the porch and chapel adjoins the northern façade of the nave. The western façade of the church is preceded by a small, brick porch constructed in the years 1891-1892. The nave, the chancel and the porch are covered with gable roofs clad with ceramic roof tiles; the annex is covered with a mono-pitched roof. The nave and chancel gables are adorned with a trio of blind windows. The façades are crowned with a cornice, while the windows, topped with semicircular arches, are framed with plaster surrounds.

The interior features a single-bay chancel with a ribbed groin vault, its keystone adorned with an inscribed date “1473” as well as a stonemason’s mark. A faux cloister vault with a flat centre section rises above the nave, with a barrel vault and double barrel vault with pronounced groins used for the sacristy and the northern chapel respectively. The chancel and the nave are separated by a semi-circular rood arch. A Late Gothic tabernacle dating back to the late 15th century can be admired in the chancel.

The church fittings are predominantly Baroque in style, dating back to ca. 1700: the main altarpiece with the paintings executed in the years 1876-77 (F. Plachetka), the side altarpieces (one of them incorporating the image of the Flagellation of Christ created at the atelier of M. L. Willmann), the pulpit, the baptismal font and the confessional. The altarpiece in the northern chapel, designed in the Baroque style, dates back to ca. 1680, with further additions made in 1706. The church also boasts a pipe organ from 1891, assembled by the Schlag und Söhne company from Świdnica, as well as stained glass windows in the chancel and nave dating back to 1901 and 1931 respectively.

The church is open to visitors.

compiled by Beata Sebzda, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Wrocław, 24-10-2014.

Bibliography

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