Val-Saint-Lambert Abbey

[2] The foundation of the abbey is attributed to Hugues de Pierrepont, Bishop of Liège, who in 1187 decided to establish Val-Saint-Lambert.

[3] Construction began in 1202 after he gave a tract of land and woods situated in what was then called the Champ des Maures to a group of monks.

[3] The abbot Simon de Harlez, Val-Saint-Lambert's sponsor, canon of St. Lambert's Cathedral, Liège, and adviser to the prince-bishop, began an expansion project in 1750, funded by his coal earnings.

[5] It was completed before 1796 when the monks were expelled as a result of the French Revolution, at which time the buildings were demolished and the holdings were sold as public goods.

In 1825, the abbey ruins were purchased by the chemist François Kemlin and the engineer Auguste Lelièvre, who converted the building into a glass works.