Saint Catherine's Church in Wachtebeke

It is generally believed that Willibrord (658-739), or certainly his followers, were the first preachers of faith in the "Four Crafts". In 1108 the "Four Crafts" had only three parishes: Assenede, Boekhoute, Axel; Holly then had an auxiliary church. The churches of those parishes were dedicated to the Holy Cross. Wachtebeke emerged from Assenede, among others. Until the first half of the 16th century, the church of Assenede was the main church; Wachtebeke paid an annual fee to the presbytery of Assenede. When exactly the church of Wachtebeke was founded is not known, but without a doubt it was after 1199. After all, there was no question of a church in Wachtebeke when the bishop of Utrecht, Dirk II, granted permission to the Sticht van Sint-Pieters in 1199 to erect a chapel on a nut land, donated by the Count of Flanders, located between Kalve and Wulfsschoot. This chapel had all the privileges of a parish church. Shortly afterwards, the church of Wachtebeke must have been founded. The St. Catherine's Church, oriented to the East, towards Jerusalem, is a typical parish church in brick, built according to the pattern of the Southern Dutch single-aisled hall churches.

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