St. Roch's Tower

Late Gothic tower – the only remnant of the former cloth hall (16th century?) – built of iron sandstone in large and regular pattern. Consists of a raised ground floor, three storeys and corner turret in overhang. A basket-arched door in the basement surmounted by a pointed arch niche with a statue of Saint Roch; Otherwise preserved cross window.

The St. Roch's Tower was probably originally the belfry tower of the cloth hall, which was destroyed in 1578. In a mention from 1596, the city magistrate sat in a tower on the Grote Markt. In the 18th and 19th centuries, this tower served as a prison, later as a police station and tourist office.
Until 1920, the St. Roch's Tower was partly hidden behind the town hall and was also plastered at that time. After the arson attack on the town hall in 1914 – which also burned down the archive room on the top floor of the tower – the town hall was demolished after the First World War to erect a monument commemorating the fallen.

Source: https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjecten/41434

Rudy Wuyts