St. Martin's Church of Beselare

The church is 28 meters high, the tower 22 meters = 50 meters. The spire with globe and rooster is 5 meters. So 55 meters in total

The inhabitants of Beselare think that bad luck hangs over their St. Martin's church.

The first church in Beselare was erected in the 11th century. It was a gift from Fulpoldus, innkeeper of Ypres, who lived with his wife Ramburga in Zonnebeke (origin of the seigneury of Rolleghem). In 1072 Fulpoldus asked for and received permission from Bishop Drogo of Terwanen to found a chapter in Zonnebeke with three canons and in 1087 the chapter received the patronage of the church of Beselare. The first church of Beselare (earlier a chapel) was probably a wooden construction that was replaced a century later by a masonry cruciform church, built of mountain stone.

This church, which had already undergone several renovations and alterations over the centuries, was burned down during the iconoclasm of 1579. The parish was so impoverished and the region so deserted that it was not until 1605-1610 that Maximilian van der Woestyne, lord of the seigneury, had it rebuilt at his expense in late Gothic style. It became a beautiful three-aisled church with a monumental tower above the entrance. The brick vaults in the choir and the naves, crisscrossed by ribs and stabbing bands, gave it a unique appearance.

In 1779 the tower was decorated with four corner turrets and a gallery. In 1784 E. H. Van Calbergh added an artful Calvary to the northern outer wall and several tombstones and memorial stones were built into the outer walls for the notable families Duval, Verbrugge, Soete, Waterloos, Delefortrie, Delobel, Gryson and the noble lords Van der Woestyne.

On November 9, 1800, during the Beloken Tijd (all churches were closed at that time), a violent storm raged in the region. The high needle of the church tower fell down and destroyed the roof of the central nave. After the Beloken Tijd (1802) the tower was provided with a flat roof due to lack of money. In 1826 Hubrecht Waterloos donated a new high altar to the church.

On the morning of May 28, 1847, another great thunderstorm swept over Beselare. Lightning struck the church and caused extensive damage to the tower. Slates and planks flew around, thick beams were split and lead gutters were scattered everywhere. The damage was estimated at more than 1,000 francs. estimated. It was not until 1872 that the tower was restored to its original state, with the needle and the corner turrets, according to the plan of architect Heynincx from Bruges. The tower was also surrounded by a railing and garden. In order to be able to resist the swinging of the bells, a new bell tower was placed in the tower in 1890, resting on heavy bricked-in corbels.

From the first days of the First World War in our region, the church was in the eye of the storm. On 21 October, the Germans shot a large opening in the east side of the tower, just below the reverberation holes. The church was set up as a field hospital, where mainly German wounded were cared for on the assembly line and even operated on in the sacristy. Mattresses and blankets from the surrounding houses were dragged in. All liturgical linen was torn to shreds to make emergency bandages. More and more wounded were brought in, not a single place remained unoccupied, while sometimes heavy artillery shook the church to its foundations. On 23 October, the north aisle collapsed. The church had been transformed into a hideous massacre. The church was evacuated, it had become untenable. On December 1, 1914, the tower needle was fired by the British. She tilted on the nave. Nevertheless, the tower block remained standing until 1917. After the English autumn offensive, only the front remained, in addition to a few pillars and wall sections. During the breakthrough of 28 September 1918, the remains of the beautiful church were completely razed to the ground under unprecedented drumfire.

In 1923-1925 a new church (the third) was built on the same site, an almost identical copy of the destroyed one. She was recommissioned at Sinksen 1925.

When entering the church, you will see the old tombstone of Adriaan van de Woestijne on the left

RicoM