The belfry was built in 1744 together with the wooden, larch church. st. James the Apostle in Świerże Górne. After 2 centuries of existence, as a result of warfare on the Warka-Magnuszew bridgehead, the church was ruined in 1944. Until today, despite the destruction during World Wars I and II, the belfry has remained and we can now admire this unique monument.
Although the wooden church itself has not survived to the present day, a temple was erected in its place under the same invocation of St. Jakub the Apostle, designed by architect Władysław Pieńkowski. The church was built in 1950-1965 thanks to the efforts of Fr. Roman Żywczyk, Fr. Jan Stępień and Fr. Adam Socha. It was consecrated on July 4, 1966 by bishop Piotr Gołębiowski. The church is a three-nave structure made of stone and red brick.
During World War II, fearing the requisitioning and melting down the bells ringing in the bell tower in Świerżów, the inhabitants of the village decided to hide the 3 bells there. They took them off, moved and buried them in the area of the then commune office, where the local Health Center is now located, near the lumberjack. They masked the hiding place with sawdust and kept it a secret. Fortunately, the participants of the action, including Stanisław Tynkowski and Michał Rybak - the pre-war mayor of the Świerże Górne commune - survived the war, and the bells were unearthed after the withdrawal of the German troops.
In 1947, the belfry was renovated. The saved three bells (the smallest from 1721, the medium "Jakub" from 1896, the large "Franciszek" from 1877) were installed on it, and they hung until they were built in 1979-1980 in a new, brick belfry inside the church. After the construction of a new brick belfry, the wooden belfry was slowly destroyed and devastated. The monument was saved from complete devastation by conservation and renovation works carried out in 2005 at the initiative of, among others. Society of Kozienicka Land Lovers. The works, according to the design of Jerzy Szałygin, were carried out by specialists from the vicinity of Ełk.
The belfry is located in the church yard, in its north-eastern corner.
The foundations of the monument are concrete, filled with stone and brick. The wooden foundations, in the amount of 6 pieces, are arranged in a cross, have dimensions of 30x30 cm. The foundations rest on the foundation, while they themselves provide support for 9 wooden poles constituting the frame. The shuttering structure is made of boards placed vertically on a half-timber. The columns are cross-linked and pinned into the ground beam. The rafters tied in a cone rest on the central column. The constructions are strengthened by cuts and swords, connected by rockers - wooden pegs. Fixing the rafters on a miter. The roof was covered with shingles. At the top, there is a parallel entablature for the placement of 3 bells. The entrance is open to the west. The roof is hipped, Polish - tented. It ends with a short pinnacle, and the pinnacle with a point with a ball. At the bottom, there is a canopy - a plinth eaves covering the sills. The roof protecting the ground and the roof is covered with torn shingles. The upper storey is boarded with vertical boards with laths. In the upper part, there are unshaded bell openings closed with swords in the form of a full arch. The volume of the bell tower is approximately 430 m³, and the usable area is 48.5 m². At the foot of the belfry there is a stone slab, which was embedded in one of the four pillars of the gate from 1907, the slab contains a fragment of the inscription that has survived.
Translated by Google •
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