Shipwell Sint-Pieterveld Wingene

According to Article 5 of the law of April 3, 1848, the reform schools had to ensure that young people were trained in agriculture or in crafts that could be practiced successfully in the countryside. A broad interpretation of that law also saw a solution in the training of sailors in the merchant navy.

Therefore, an "auxiliary asylum" was established under the management of the reform school . In 1853 they started with 65 students. The buildings that were built in 1857 consisted of the later banquet hall, canteen and the garages of the radio-electric center in Wingene (now the De Zande Wingene department).

The Antwerp shipowner Huymans-Van den Berghe donated the complete equipment of a "schoonerbrick" (narrow, long-rigged sailing ship of American origin). The equipment included: 2 masts, ropes, sails, pulleys, the yard, etc...

Since a ship was also supposed to carry water , a large pond was dug. In the middle of the pond, on an island, the deck and complete equipment of a merchant navy three-master were built. With the help of this material, an attempt was made to provide elementary maritime instruction on solid ground. The pond was named 'Het Schip', but was transformed into the Ship Well by the locals.

To prevent accidents during the exercises, a safety net was stretched above the deck at a height of 2 m. The three-masted ship was 30 m long and 7.2 m wide.

The results achieved were satisfactory and in the course of 20 years (1860-1879) 654 sailors found a suitable job in the merchant navy. Some even became long-serving officers

At the beginning of the 20th century , interest in the sailor school diminished . Employment declined and parents increasingly preferred not to expose their children to the rough and extremely dangerous sailor's life. Just before the First World War ( 1913) the three-masted ship was demolished and the "ship's well" was used as an open-air swimming pool .

1925 marked the end. The building was abandoned, attempts to sell it failed and eventually it was transferred to the Telegraaf en Telephone Agency in 1930.

The well remains. A work of art by Steven Vermeyen , who grew up on the Sint-Pietersveld and son of an educator at the institution, commemorates the ship.

There is a picnic table at this beautiful location.

Willem Vandenameele