Slave masters and skewed buildings: The secrets of West Flanders
The rich heritage of Flanders has left many traces behind. Some are well-known, touristic highlights; others are far more obscure. This week: West Flanders, where a skewed water reservoir offers a disorienting experience and the floor inside a church is paved with the graves of slave masters
Off the beaten path
A narrow staircase leads you inside. Instinctively, you focus on the pillars and the walls, so you lean down. While you think you are walking on a flat surface, it feels as if your feet are climbing up and down.
There is a small pool of water in the reservoir, and it seems to be flowing upwards because the slanted structure is the only point of reference. It’s a very disorienting experience; indeed, a bit like trying to walk after having one beer too many.
With the expansion of tourism in Middelkerke during the 19th century, the need for drinking water grew rapidly. The city council decided to build a concrete pipe from the Plassendale-Nieuwpoort canal to a large water tank.
From the start, the contractor ran into difficulties because the land was swampy. On the night of 1 November 1897, when the reservoir was finally finished but not yet filled, rising groundwater pushed the entire structure up. The building got skewed, and all attempts to straighten it failed.
Because no one wanted to bear the costs of demolition, the tank was preserved, making the dronkenput one of the oldest reinforced concrete structures in Belgium. Not long after, the architectural failure became a popular attraction.
The tombs of the Slave Masters
The Zwin region, east of Middelkerke, is one of the most beautiful spots in West Flanders. Canals like the Damse Vaart and Schipdonk, with their banks lined with rows of old poplars that give the otherwise flat landscape some depth, criss-cross through the empty polders, while sturdy-looking churches stand post nearby.
It is an area of rich, fertile fields, with small villages but large farms. You can find gems, such as the village of Damme, but also lesser known places, like Hoeke and Lapscheure.
Lapscheure church is nicely situated, surrounded by a row of knotted lime trees. On the outside, the building looks rather austere, but its interior has a warm and traditional feel. And it contains a remarkable collection of religious objects and works of art compiled over time.
Slave Masters collected money to ransom Christian slaves from the Saracen pirates
The floor is dotted with tombstones. A tomb inside the church with a matching headstone was the sort of privilege only those of noble descent, or with great fortunes, could expect to enjoy in the afterlife. In 14 of the many tombs in the church of Lapscheure rest the so-called Slavenmeesters, or Slave Masters.
The Slave Masters were part of the Brotherhood of the Holy Trinity. In the 17th and 18th centuries, they collected money to ransom Christian slaves from the hands of the Saracens, the North African pirates who operated in the Mediterranean.
The village of Lapscheure has been around for at least 1,000 years, but the church is considerably younger. Its construction began in 1649. The thick stone blocks that form the foundation were recovered from an older church, which suffered its ultimate fate at the hands of the environment.
A violent storm in 1134 left the area around Lapscheure largely under water and the building was severely damaged. Eventually, the farmland was drained again and the original church restored. Unfortunately, the water came back, this time by human hands.
In 1583, during the Eighty Years’ War between the provinces of the Low Countries and the Spanish rulers, rebels punctured the dikes to prevent the hostile soldiers from passing, washing away Lapscheure along with its church.
Only in the early 17th century was the area furnished with a dam again. As a precaution, the church and the village were rebuilt farther away, at a slightly higher location. The ruins of the original church were excavated and mapped in the 1980s. They are about two kilometres away at the end of a promenade, not far from the border with the Netherlands. But there’s no trace of them now.
Photo: Locals and tourists alike love Middelkerke’s dronkenput, a disorienting experience
©Toon Lambrechts
