The project to establish a community of Benedictine nuns at Maredret was set in motion by Agnès de Hemptinne, a member of a local family of aristocrats.

The monastery comprises a compact collection of stone buildings in a neo-gothic style, under a traditional slate roof, and sited on a hill-side, overlooking Maredret and the Molignée [fr] valley.

[2] The abbey church, completed in 1907, was one of the final projects of the fashionable Gothic revival Gent-based architect Auguste Van Assche [fr].

The site of 15 hectares is surrounded by a high wall of rough stone, enhanced with two medieval style towers.

[3] The nuns have expertise in the art of Illuminated manuscript, which may be applied to documents marking important stages in individual Christian lives: baptism, religious confirmation or conversion, marriage and burial.