Although the current neo-Gothic church only dates from 1896, a chapel was founded here in 1694, then in honor of the Holy Family and Saint Anne.
In 1749 the parishioners were allowed to build a larger chapel, which was elevated to a parish church in 1803.
Another tip:
On the wall of the house on the corner of Rue Bouhais and Rue Mortbonhomme there is an information and photo board about the history of the church and the village center.
The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Cornesse
“The new church was built in 1896, under the care of the factory council.
Father Marie-Louis Lambert Bauman had already become attached to this work.
He had wanted to have the building built at La Coulée on the land of the widowed ladies Closset-Simon and Rahier-Collard.
Plans, specifications and estimates were drawn up and approved in 1892 by the factory council.
The plan, preserved in the presbytery, indicates that this church was to have only one nave. Only the land intended for this construction was steeply sloping; what amount would the foundations ask for?
In 1894, Father Joseph Barrez was appointed parish priest of Cornesse. Former vicar of Pepinster, he already knew the place; so despite opposition, he judged it preferable to buy the farm located at the corner of the Rue du Bouhais and Rue de Fonds de Ville, to build the parish church there. How great was his joy when the owner Mr. Henri Lacroix, a licensed attorney, living in Liège, offered to accept the gift of this farm. The deed of donation inter vivos was passed before Maître Henri Lacroix, Notary of the residence of Ensival, at the residence of Father Barrez, on May 16, 1895.
Thanks above all to the zeal and dedication of the latter, the work that everyone admires today was soon brought to a successful conclusion:
- January 29, 1896, start of demolition of the old farm;
- October 17, 1896, the masons finished the structural work;
- November 10, 1896, the rooster circles at the top of the tower, thirty-seven meters above the ground.
- November 21, 1896, the slate workers left the building.
On Saturday May 1, 1897, Monsignor Doutreloup, Bishop of Liège, came to Cornesse to consecrate the new residence as well as its high altar..."
Extract from the book produced in 1955 by Father Jean Defour, parish priest of Cornesse, under the title “Cornesse Paroisse Notre-Dame” (J.-J. Jespers-Grégoire et Fils, publishers).