St. Martin's Church

Village Street No. 118A. St. Martin's Church, neo-Gothic parish church built in 1890-1892 to a design by the Bruges architect Antoon Verbeke (1828-1907) to replace a church built in two construction phases (ca. 1790, rebuilt in 1837-1838) on the site of the medieval Romanesque church. Orientated church with cemetery behind, located southwest of the elongated "village square" formed by the wider central route of the Dorpsstraat. As far as we know, before 800 there were only two parishes in the Bruges Ommeland, namely Sijsele and Snellegem, both of which go back to large expansive Frankish domains from the 6th century, located in the sandy region and separated from each other by the Reie. Ecclesiastically the area is part of the diocese of Noyon-Tournai. In the 9th century, the vast domain of Sijsele became the property of the counts under the first Count of Flanders, Baldwin I, who donated it to the Saint Martin's Chapter of Utrecht around 862. Before 875 there is probably already a place of worship dedicated to Saint Martin and built as a castle chapel on the domain of the Lord of Sijsele.Probably in the first half of the 11th century a Romanesque Saint Martin's church was built as the main church of the parish of Sijsele. It is a cruciform church with a pointed Romanesque crossing tower and three altars: the high altar for Saint Martin and two side altars, one for Saint Sebastian and one for Saint Anne. This church is depicted on the map of Pieter Pourbus (1561-1571). In 1559 the parish of Sijsele was annexed to the newly established diocese of Bruges. During the Beggars' War in 1578, St. Martin's Church was destroyed. Afterwards, repairs were carried out, including in 1611 to the front church with recovered building material from the old monastery buildings of the destroyed Spermalie Abbey. Newly restored, the church was again damaged by the Dutch troops in 1634 and by French invaders in 1676; In 1691 the church burned down partially. In the second half of the 18th century, the road was built on the north side of the church, which was a direct stimulus to the development of the hitherto small village centre near the church, with an adjoining cemetery up to the current road and the walled presbytery on the west side. In 1706 a new painting was made for the high altar. In 1740 the Bruges sculptor Pieter Van Walleghem made the bust of St. Martin.Between 1760 and 1780 regular repairs were carried out, including white plastering of the interior, sealing of the ceiling, installation of new floor coverings; In addition, the church property is regularly supplemented with new furniture (e.g. communion rail, confessional and pulpit, altar of Our Lady) and paintings. An organ is also installed by P. Van Peteghem (Ghent).Ca. In 1790, extensive renovation work began on St. Martin's Church, during which the choir and two bays were rebuilt and raised. However, the French Revolution put an end to the work. In 1801 the parish of Sijsele was added to the diocese of Ghent and from 1834 again to the diocese of Bruges. It was not until 1802 that St. Martin's Church was reopened. However, the church is still in a pitiful and even peculiar condition at that time, cf. the newly built part is higher than the original tower and there is no ceiling. It was decided to demolish the remaining old part and to adapt it to the part that had already been rebuilt. The church and municipal council asked permission from King Leopold I and appealed to the provincial architect to draw up a plan. In 1837 work began on the construction of a new church under contractor Pieter Sabot (Sijsele); It was put into operation as early as 1838. The church furniture will also be replaced. In 1841, a baptistery and a staircase in front of the rood screen were added and a new natural stone tiled floor was laid. Pastor, later canon, Coppieters, appointed in 1846, made many donations to the church, including the baptismal font (1846) and a new tower clock with four dials. Due to the increase in population in the 19th century, St. Martin's Church, which is only 50 years old, has become too small. In 1890, the construction of the current church in neo-Gothic style began, according to the plans of the Bruges architect Antoon Verbeke and carried out by contractor Désiré Declercq (Roeselare). During the construction works, services are held in a largely wooden emergency church, called a "berdelenkerk", erected along the wall of the presbytery. On 11 November 1892, St. Martin's feast day, the new St. Martin's Church was inaugurated. However, the works continued, including the installation of neo-Gothic church furniture: high altar and altar of Our Lady (1895), communion rails and choir stalls (1897), altar of St. Martin and confessionals (1898). On 26 September 1898 the new church was officially inaugurated by the bishop of Bruges Waffelaert.In 1903 a new pulpit and the oak portal were installed; In 1905 the organ was installed, but in 1969 it was replaced by a new one. In 1929-1931, following the construction of a new cemetery to the south of the church, the old sub-presbytery was replaced by a new building, which now houses the presbytery (no. 124). In 1938, a new presbytery and the town hall were built on the site of the 18th-century walled presbytery to the west of the church (no. 122). In the 1950s, the interior of the church took on a different look; For example, the sculpture of the main altar will be replaced and the statues will be stripped of their polychrome painting. Description.Church located along the Dorpsstraat, with parking on the street side and cemetery (cf. infra) on the south side. On the west side, a park with a tree of liberty (lime tree), originally planted on the corner of Decloedtstraat.Neo-Gothic church built on a cruciform ground plan with a four-sided west façade tower to the north of the main aisle, three-aisled basilical nave of five bays, transept of one bay, main choir of three bays with three-sided axis, flanked by two flat closed side chapels. Use of materials typical of neo-Gothic: red brick construction with natural stone for, among other things, carving buttresses, detailing window openings, corner turrets and parapet of the façade tower; slate saddles and pent roofs; Slate spire incorporating wooden dormers under windboard. Exterior. Sober, slightly projecting west portal with pointed arched entrance door; on either side, alternating brick and stone columns with floral capitals on bases, under pointed arched drip moulding; door with wrought iron handles; ornamental anchors. Above it are lancet windows with neo-Gothic tracery. To the north, tripartite west tower with carved buttresses at the corners; first section with north portal, second section with linked pointed arched blind wall surfaces, central with tracery, third section with linked pointed arched reverberation holes above which clockwork. Delineating arched frieze on lisenes. Four slightly cantilevered natural stone corner turrets with spire between which natural stone parapet with ditto tracery (rosas and quatrefoil motif); Iron weather vane and rooster on top of eight-sided slate spire. Side elevations of lower aisles and chapels and corners of transept rhythmed by carved and superimposed buttresses; Low plinth, per bay pointed arch window with neo-Gothic tracery. Above the roof of the side aisles, linked pointed arch windows of the central aisle. Transepteens with characteristic side gables with canopy and surmounted by stone cross; low plinth, large pointed arch window with neo-Gothic tracery surmounted by a small pointed arch niche. Choir enclosure with similar buttresses between which are lancet windows with neo-Gothic tracery. Above the north portal in the west tower, in the central blind pointed arch niche, stone statue of St. Anthony the abbot under a canopy, here venerated as a protector against cattle diseases. On the north and south façades are ambulatory chapels (bas-reliefs) depicting scenes from the life of the saint. Against the north side wall of transept, wooden cross with statue of Christ. Plastered and white-painted interior finish. High central aisle and lower aisles covered by plastered cross rib vault with open round keystones, on continuous schalks with natural stone consoles. Aisles separated by pointed arches on round, natural stone columns with Corinthian capitals and octagonal base, surmounted by clerestory of linked pointed arch windows. Walls of aisles, transept and choir with pointed arch windows; in transept and choir with figurative stained glass infill. Natural stone tiled floors. Mobile. Simple neo-Gothic church furniture installed during the construction of the new church. High altar, wood, installed in 1895 by De Wispelaere (Bruges), original sculpture replaced in the 1950s. Altar of Our Lady, wood, made in 1895 by the Kortrijk sculptor Lelou and painted by painter Wybo (Veurne); St. Martin's altar, stone, 1898, made by the house of Sinaeve-Dhondt (Ghent); altarpiece with polychrome wooden statue of the patron saint painted by the house of Goethals (Ghent). Choir stalls and communion rail, wood, 1897, l.g. with symbols of the Holy Eucharist in panels. Confessionals, wood, 1898, by the house of Sinaeve-Dhondt (Ghent), including sculpted instruments of the Passion in rosas and the monogram of Christ and Mary above the doors. Pulpit, wood, 1903, by the house of Sinaeve-Dhondt (Ghent); on a tub of panels with biblical scenes between which the four Evangelists with their symbols. Baptismal font, marble with copper lid, donated by pastor Coppieters in 1846 (from the old church). Sculpture : including bust of St. Martinus made in 1740 by the Bruges sculptor Pieter Van Walleghem (side altar); statue of Our Lady of the Rosary; wooden Madonna statue from 1954; copy of the 13th-century statue of the Virgin Mary of Spermalie (now preserved in the Bruges Beguinage Church); statue of St. Anthony with child; statue of Our Lady with Child and Saint Anthony; Pietà by Maison A. Denis (Brussels); wooden apostle statues. Figurative stained-glass windows, not signed, donated by the Coppieters family, among others. Painted Stations of the Cross on panels. Obiits with, among other things, the coat of arms of pastor Coppieters. Organ, 1969, Jos. Loncke and son (Esen), in which remnants of the previous organ (1905) by G. Cloetens (Brussels) are incorporated. BLONDEEL C.; GODDYN P., Sijsele in oude ppostkaarten, Zaltbommel, 1975, afb. 1, 2, 5, DENORME C., Ecclesiastical history of Sijsele, in 1000 years of Sijsele, Bruges, 1976, p. 49-84.FAUCONNIER A.; ROOSE P., The historical organ in Flanders, part IVa, Province of West Flanders (Arrondissement of Bruges and Ostend), Brussels, 1986, p. 292.RAU J., Het Damme van toen en omgeving, Brugge, 1981, p. 120, 122.TANGHE G.F., Beschryving van Sysseele, Brugge, 1858.VAN DEN BON A., From the history of the thousand-year-old Sijsele, in 1000 years of Sijsele, Bruges, 1976, p. 7-48.VAN HAECKE, B., Wegwijs in Damme en omgeving, Brugge, 1985, p. 72-73.VAN POUCKE G., Archiefbeelden Damme, v.z.w. 't Zwin Rechteroever Territory Damme/Gloucestershire, 2003, p. 18.

Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen