The St. Peter's Field

The Sint-Pietersveld consists of 2 parts. First, to the north of the Beernem-Ruiselede road, there is a large complex of buildings (De Zande and the Penitentiary Agricultural Center) adjacent to a large agricultural area; second, to the south of the aforementioned road, there is a strictly geometrically subdivided wooded landscape with a varying composition of forest, buildings, and agriculture.

The Sint-Pietersveld is a piece of field area within the Bulskampveld that belonged to the Saint Peter's Abbey of Ghent. As early as 1221, the abbey purchased the first piece of land.

In 1836, a sugar factory was established in the Sint-Pietersveld. Because the factory was not profitable, it was soon sold to the Belgian state, which repurposed it as a re-education facility. The establishment of the "Ecole de Reforme de Ruysselede" should be seen in the context of the economic crisis in the nineteenth century. This crisis led to a significant increase in vagrancy and begging.

World War I had significant landscape consequences for the Sint-Pietersveld. In 1916, the German armies constructed an airfield for bombers there. As a result, the wooded landscape behind the facility was completely wiped out.

In 1934, the farm and a part of the buildings were transferred to the Ministry of Justice to serve as a vagrancy colony. After World War II, the facility was granted the status of a prison. Currently, the prison is used as a Penitentiary Agricultural Center. The inmates work in the fields, on the farm, or contribute to other services of the prison in an open regime. In the remaining buildings, there is the community institution for special youth care De Zande.

The entire complex of buildings is protected as a monument and is located in the protected landscape of Sint-Pietersveld.

Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos