Our Lady's Corner

The hamlet of Oud-Stuivekenskerke is located 1 kilometre west of the Yser, south of present-day Stuivekenskerke, in a rural polder area.

The Onze-Lieve-Vrouwehoekje, as the hamlet is called, consists of the memorial chapel 'Our Lady of Victory', surrounded by 41 memorial stones. In front of the chapel are two memorial columns: on the left for the 5th Lancer Regiment, on the right for the 1st and 2nd Battalion Carabiniers-Cyclists. Next to this chapel is the fortified ruined tower, with the orientation table at the top, with commemorative plaques for Mardaga and Lekeux and with demarcation post no. 11 nearby. Behind the house Oud-Stuivekens 4 is a Belgian command post. The access road next to the memorial chapel in front of Delacave leads to the Goemaere farm, which is partly built with reclaimed concrete blocks.

Historical background

The tower of Oud-Stuivekens was a remnant of the original Gothic St. Peter's Church of Stuivekenskerke, which was built in 1572. In 1866 the churchwardens and the municipal council of Stuivekenskerke decided to build a new church, near the castle of Vicogne. This new St. Peter's Church was completed in 1870. The old church was demolished, except for the tower, which was to be preserved as a characteristic witness of the local architectural style.

During the Battle of the Yser (October 1914) the tower of Oud-Stuivekens was damaged by artillery shells. When the situation looked hopeless for the Belgians and they had retreated behind the railway, a German infantry company installed itself in the buildings of Oud-Stuivekens. Due to the flooding, the Germans were forced to retreat eastwards. Only a few German posts remained at higher places west of the Yser. The tower of Oud-Stuivekens, together with the surrounding houses, also stood on an island. The water surface here was about 2500 meters wide.

On 1 November, when the Battle of the Yser was over, a reconnaissance patrol of the Belgian 10th Line Regiment discovered that the hamlet had been abandoned. They found about 300 corpses in the area. From 3 November, an outpost was set up. On November 23, 1914, 19-year-old sub-lieutenant Motz installed a large guard post between the walls of a destroyed building near the tower. This Grand Garde 1, also known as Grand Garde Sud, became one of the four large guards on the Belgian side.

In December 1914, artillery observer Edouard Lekeux, a Franciscan friar, wanted to set up an observation post in the tower of Oud-Stuivekens. Using ladders, he peered from the tower at the possible enemy activities. The tower was repeatedly hit by enemy artillery and became virtually unusable as an observation post. In 1916, the engineer battalion of the 1st Army Division constructed a concrete shelter between the side walls of the tower. Through a manhole in the roof the upper room could be reached, which functioned as a machine gun and observation post. In addition to the rubble of the farm, two concrete structures were built: one for the command post and one for the aid station. By 1917, the Grand Garde Sud had been developed into a complex of posts and posts, trenches and corridors, barbed wire fences and footbridges. The large guard post could accommodate an infantry company and the surrounding smaller outposts, with observation and listening posts, were manned from here. From Oud-Stuivekens, the connection to the Grote Wacht Reigersvliet was assured. And from Oud-Stuivekens, which was more than one kilometer in front of the front, a large part of the front and of the no-man's-land and a lot of German outposts could be monitored.

On 6 and 18 March 1918, the two large guards, Reigersvliet in the north and Oud-Stuivekens in the south, were attacked by German storm troopers. Without result, but this did cause the tower of Oud-Stuivekenskerke to deteriorate further.

In 1922, the remaining surface of the old church tower of Stuivekenskerke became a site de guerre. Over the years, memorials have been added to the site: on the initiative of the Touring Club de Belgique demarcation post no. 11 (1924), on the initiative of Lekeux, the chapel of Our Lady of Victory (1925, hence the name Our Lady of the Corner), the memorial column for the 1st and 2nd battalions of Carabiniers-Cyclists (1928), the obelisk for the 5th Lancer Regiment (1948), 41 memorial columns for different regiments (1955-'66), the chapel for Georges Delacave and the fallen of the region, the memorial plaque on the bunker in memory of Mardaga (somewhere between 1928 and 1954) with cross (1968) and the memorial plaque for Lekeux (1963). In 1956, a bronze orientation table on poles was installed, but it was moved to the top of the tower in 1961.

Since 1954, the non-profit organisation Friends of the O.L.V. corner has been working for the maintenance of the tower. From 1955 to 1964, pilgrimages to this place were organized. The site was protected as a landscape in 1959 and in 1961 the tower ruins were restored and consolidated by architect Camille Van Elslande from Veurne. On 16 July 1993, the corner of Our Lady was protected as a monument because of its historical and socio-cultural value.

Description

Remembrance of the First World War built around the tower ruins of Oud-Stuivekenskerke. The site consists of the fortified tower ruins with commemorative plaques and orientation table, a demarcation post, the memorial chapel for Our Lady of Victory surrounded by 41 memorial columns for various regiments, an obelisk for the 5th Lancer Regiment and a memorial column for the 1st and 2nd battalions of Carabiniers-Cyclists. Finally, a memorial chapel to Georges Delacave and the fallen of the region.

Immovable Heritage West Flanders, Protection File DW002224, Onze-Lieve-Vrouwehoekje (S.N. 2002).

S.N. 1924: Les Sites de Guerre, Campagne 1914-1918, Bruxelles, Armée Belge.

VERBEKE R. s.d., Unpublished notes.

Source : DECOODT H. & BOGAERT N. 2002-2005: Inventory of the World War Heritage in the Westhoek, project commissioned by the Province of West-Flanders, "War and Peace in the Westhoek", and Ministry of the Flemish Community, Department of Monuments and Sites.
Authors : Decoodt, Hannelore; Bogaert, Nele
Date : 2003
The text is provided by: Agency for Immovable Heritage

Joris Broché