Sacred Books | Secret Libraries - Engels Klooster (English Convent)

The domain of the English Convent on the Carmersstraat has been occupied by the Canonesses of Windesheim, virtually without interruption, for nearly four centuries. The convent is a well-preserved and fully walled-in complex with a unique domed church and a spacious nineteenth-century landscaped garden. In the English Convent lives a community of canonesses who have always devoted themselves to the education of young women (from the very beginning they have run a boarding school for English Catholic girls) as well as offering a warm reception to visitors. For a time the Flemish poet-priest Guido Gezelle (1830-1899) served as rector of the English Convent and taught in the boarding school. Thomas More (a relic of whom is preserved in the church) and Geert Grote (Modern Devotion) are very important figures in the spirituality of the sisters.